A Year in the Life
by elang4
Summary: My version of A Year in the Life with several big rewrites. This is how I wished the revival could have been. Some familiar pairings but also some unfamiliar ones. Follow everyone in Stars Hollow as they progress with their lives.
1. Chapter 1

**Yes, ok, I know what you're all thinking! Why is she starting yet another story? I promise you I am continuing with Family Adventures but I suddenly got inspiration for this story and I feel like it could be good. So I hope you like it as well! :)**

 **So I'm going to do my version of A Year in the Life but with quite a few big rewrites! So it will be set the same time as the revival and sadly Richard won't be around anymore but those are the only things that are really the same. I will fill in the gaps as I go. :)**

Chapter 1

"That's how you look when you get off a plane?" Lorelai exclaimed.

"That's how you say hello?" Rory laughed as she sat down next to her mom on the stairs of the gazebo.

Lorelai grinned and pulled her daughter into a big hug. "I've missed you kid!"

"I've missed you too!" Rory said. "And I've missed Stars Hollow." She said looking round at the very familiar surroundings.

"Stars Hollow has missed you too. Come on, Luke's waiting at home to spoil you rotten. He's already got started on the lasagne." Lorelai said.

"I'm so glad you married him." Rory grinned.

"He is the best." Lorelai grinned. "Although I am a bit biased. But I'm also a bit put out that he still won't make me chilli fries but as soon as you ring and request lasagne, he's leaving work and cooking it without hesitation."

"Well he does love me best." Rory teased.

"Hmm...I sometimes fear that's true." Lorelai joked. "Come on! Oh and just to warn you, he's super proud of that article you did."

"Aw that's sweet." She smiled.

"Oh and another thing...Jess might be there..." Lorelai said hesitantly.

"Oh cool!" Rory said.

"Cool?" Lorelai questioned.

Rory glanced at her mom and rolled her eyes. "Mom, you know Jess and I have moved past everything. You know we've been in touch through the years."

"Yeah I know that, I just didn't realise you were that close again." She said.

"Well...he was...well, Jess was there when I really needed someone. You remember that day you rang me about Grandpa..." She said quietly.

"Yeah..."

"I was devastated and I was more devastated that I couldn't get home straight away. You know how upset I was." Rory said.

"Yeah I remember." Lorelai said quietly.

"The next day, Jess showed up at my door." Rory admitted.

"He did?" She said surprised.

"Luke must have told him what had happened and that I was still in New York. He showed up with some ice cream and all the classic movies." Rory smiled softly. She saw her mom looking at her. "It wasn't what you think. We just stayed up talking all night. He made me smile again. It was just nice to have someone familiar there. It was nice to be with family. Because that's what Jess is now. Family. He really helped me that night and I will never forget it. We've been talking more since then and it's...well, it's just not awkward anymore."

Lorelai smiled softly. "Well, then that's good. And that was sweet of him to do that. He never said."

Rory gave her a small smile. "And anyway, he has that secret new girlfriend doesn't he?" She smirked.

"Oh yes! The girlfriend he won't tell us anything about! I've tried, trust me!" Lorelai said.

"I'm sure you have." Rory smirked.

The two of them walked back to the Crap Shack. Rory smiled as she saw the familiar jeep and the familiar green truck parked in the driveway.

"It's good to be home." She smiled.

"It's good to have you home." Lorelai smiled.

They headed up the porch and headed inside.

"We're home!" Lorelai called.

"Rory!" A voice called excitedly and suddenly an excited eight year old boy came hurtling towards them and threw his arms round Rory's waist.

"Hey little bro." Rory smiled fondly at him.

"Someone's been counting down the days until you came home." Lorelai laughed.

"Aw, I've missed you too, Josh." She smiled at her brother.

"Ok and now prepare yourself." Lorelai smirked.

"For what?" Rory asked.

"Super proud Luke!" She grinned as she led her into the kitchen.

"Hey Luke!" Rory smiled.

"Rory, hey!" Luke smiled pulling her into a hug. "It's good to see you."

"You too!"

"I still can't get over how good that article was. It was amazing!" Luke gushed.

"Aw thanks Luke." Rory smiled. "And I smell something delicious!"

"The lasagne will be ready soon." He nodded. He then eyed them suspiciously. "Please don't tell me you two have eaten some junk food already?"

"Only some doughnuts." Lorelai said.

"And some danishes." Rory grinned.

"I had to ask." He said shaking his head just as Jess came through the back door.

"Ah the golden girl has returned." Jess said with his trademark smirk.

"And I see the golden boy has as well." Rory smirked, getting up from the table.

"Hey cuz." He grinned.

"Hey Dodger." Rory smiled softly, giving him a hug.

* * *

Rory woke up early the next morning and heard sounds coming from the kitchen. She wandered over to the door to her bedroom to see what was going on when she heard some voices. She opened her door a tiny bit and peeked out to see Jess and Josh in the kitchen.

"Ok, ready to flip?" Jess asked Josh.

"Yeah!" Josh said eagerly.

"Now remember what I told you, you have to be careful because..."

"Because the pan is hot. I'm 8! I do know that it's hot!" Josh exclaimed.

Rory smiled slightly as she saw the signature Gilmore pout on the face of her younger brother.

Jess smirked slightly. "Alright brainbox, it's all yours." He said.

Josh grinned, taking the pan, and then with the utmost concentration on his face, he flipped the pancake perfectly. "I did it!" He exclaimed.

"You did!" Jess nodded impressed, putting the pan back on the stove. "Good job!" He said giving Josh a high five.

Rory smiled and decided to make her presence know. "Trying to make my brother into a cook huh?" She said.

Jess turned to smirk at her. "Well we need someone to carry on the family tradition."

"I'm offended. I'll have you know that I can actually cook a bit now." Rory said dramatically.

"You can make toast." Josh giggled.

"Hey, you're meant to be on my side!" She exclaimed.

"Jess makes me pancakes." He shrugged.

"Huh, it was that easy huh?" Rory shook her head at Jess.

"Not my fault, I'm so likeable." Jess smirked.

"Well, I hope there are pancakes for me." Rory retorted.

"As if I wouldn't make enough. You and your mom would kill me." Jess joked plating some up for her.

"Yes we would." Rory grinned. "Thanks!" She said sitting down and starting to eat them as Josh followed suit. She glanced up as Jess started to wash up and she couldn't help but notice how at home he looked. "So, you here for a visit or...?" She asked.

"Not sure yet." Jess said. "Just finished my book tour so taking a bit of a break."

"Oh yeah, Luke mentioned that! How did it go?" She asked interested.

"Good. Really good. My book seems to be going down well which is still weird for me but yeah..." He said.

"That's because it was amazing! Seriously Jess, I always knew you could do something like this." Rory smiled sincerely.

"I know you did." Jess gave her a small smile.

"So does this time out mean you can see this secret girlfriend of yours?" She asked innocently.

"I knew you'd start to grill me about this at some point. Your mom has been trying for months." Jess smirked. "How's your love life?" He said.

"Non existent." Rory said. She then grinned. "Well?" She said.

Jess glanced at her. "I need to go run an errand but later." He said. "I'll tell you all later, I promise."

"You better!" She joked.

"Come on, Josh. I'll walk you to school on my way." Jess said ruffling his hair.

"I'm old enough to walk there myself." Josh mumbled but got up and grabbed his bag before heading towards the door.

"Yes I know but your dad would particularly kill me if something happened to you so you're stuck with me, I'm afraid." Jess smirked. He glanced at Rory. "See ya."

"See you later." Rory smiled taking note of how natural it was to see Jess doing the school run with her brother.

"Was that Jess and Josh?" Lorelai asked appearing in the kitchen.

"Yeah." Rory nodded. "So you've got Jess doing the school run now?"

"It's the only way Josh will let someone go with him. I know he's probably old enough to go by himself now but you know what Luke's like. So this is a good compromise." Lorelai said. "Plus Jess always makes breakfast for him so there's always food when I get up!" She grinned.

"Ah we find the real reason now." Rory laughed.

"So what's your plan for today?" She asked.

"I'll probably pop by Lane's to catch up and then I need to ring Paris at some point as she's demanding we confer before this Chilton reunion." Rory smiled slightly. "I was then thinking we could meet up for dinner at the diner?" Rory said.

"Sounds good." Lorelai nodded.

"Cool! I'll see you later then." She smiled. "Bye mom!"

"Bye hon." Lorelai smiled.

* * *

Rory walked through Stars Hollow, smiling as she took in the familiar surroundings. It really was good to be back. She had enjoyed being part of Obama's campaign trail and then her subsequent years writing for the New York Times. But being back in Stars Hollow made her realise how much she had missed being here and how much she had missed her family. She was yet to tell her mom that she had given her notice to the New York Times. She had loved her time there but she had missed home as well. She didn't know exactly what she was going to do with herself now but she was hoping she would get some inspiration at some point. In the meantime, she was just going to enjoy being home. She smiled as she reached her best friend's house. She walked up the stairs to the house and opened the door, knowing no one ever locked their front doors around here.

"God it's so good to be back! Hey!" Rory exclaimed as she took off her jacket but suddenly froze as she saw her best friend kissing a very familiar figure in the living room. "Lane?" She said stunned.

"Rory!" Lane exclaimed, shocked to see her best friend standing there.

"You? You're the secret girlfriend..." Rory said stunned glancing between Jess and Lane as they stood there looking very sheepish and guilty.

"Hi..." Lane said hesitantly.

"Uh..hi..." Rory said, not really knowing what else to say.

 **So as I said, quite a few changes! I will continue to fill in the gaps as I continue with this story! Let me know what you think by leaving me a review! Would you like me to continue? What do you think about the changes I've made? I hope you enjoyed it. And thank you for all your continued support! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much for all your support! I'm glad you're enjoying it. :)**

Chapter 2

"Ok...I should probably...uh...go..." Rory said turning to leave.

"No wait." Jess said. "I'll go. And you two can talk." He said.

Rory watched as Jess gave Lane's arm a little squeeze before heading out. She stood there for a minute not really knowing what to say.

"We weren't hiding it." Lane said quietly.

"Except that you obviously were or you would have told me." Rory pointed out.

"We were going to tell you but...well, we figured it wasn't really something to tell you over the phone. We wanted to tell you face to face and...well, you've not been back for ages." Lane said.

"I've come for visits." Rory said.

"I know but whenever you did, Jess wasn't here. We wanted to tell you together. We owed you that much." Lane explained. She sighed. "We were going to tell you later today, I swear."

Rory was quiet for a moment.

"Are you mad?" Lane asked hesitantly.

"No...not mad. Just...really surprised." Rory admitted. "How...when...How did this even happen? When did it start?" She asked trying to get her head round it.

"Did you know that Jess lived at the diner apartment for like 6 months last year? It was when he was finishing up his book and organising the publication and tour and stuff." Lane said.

"Yeah Jess told me he was staying here." She nodded.

"Well, Jess would help out at the diner as a thank you to Luke for letting him have the apartment and well, we got talking as we worked and we...well...we made a good team." Lane said. "We found out that we actually had quite a bit in common."

"He does like the music you like." Rory said quietly, nodding.

"Exactly! And...well...he made the time go by quickly. We started talking and we had a laugh together." Lane said. "He's grown up a lot since that sulky teenager."

Rory smiled slightly at that. "I guess he has. You used to hate him."

"I didn't hate him. I just...hated how he treated you." Lane admitted. She sighed. "We weren't trying to hide it. It just...at first we wanted to make sure it was something we were both serious about. We didn't want to make a big deal out of it if it wasn't going anywhere. But..."

"It is. Going somewhere..." Rory said quietly.

"Yeah." She said quietly. "I never thought I would find someone again after Zach and I broke up. You know how upset I was when that happened. I know it was the right decision. Zach and I...well, we were just fizzling out..."

"Is it weird still being in the band with him?" Rory asked.

"Not really. We both love Hep Alien and we ended amicably so we're still friends. That was a while ago now anyway. We've both moved on." She said.

"That's nice." Rory smiled.

"I really like Jess." She admitted. "And I know this is probably all sorts of weird for you and I'm really sorry you had to find out this way. But...this isn't a spur of the moment thing."

"Ok..." She said quietly.

"Ok?" Lane said hesitantly.

Rory sighed. "Look, I'm not going to pretend that it's not weird. I never thought I'd come home and find out my best friend is dating my ex."

"I know and I'm really sorry..."

"No, you don't have to be sorry. I just...I guess I need a bit of time to get my head round this...Jess and I, we really have moved on from the past." Rory said.

"Yeah?" Lane asked hesitantly.

"I mean, yeah I loved him. Once. But so much has happened since then and I guess we were never really meant to be." Rory admitted. "Besides, we're family now basically so it would be kind of weird now." She tried to joke.

"Rory..." She said softly.

"I..uh..I should go...I think I just need some time to get my head round this."

"Ok..."

Rory headed towards the door before turning back to face her best friend. "Are you...are you happy?" She asked hesitantly.

Lane smiled slightly. "Yeah." She said softly. "Yeah, I really am."

Rory just nodded before leaving the house. She stopped outside and let out a big breath she seemed to be holding. That was not what she was expecting to find when she was looking forward to catching up with her best friend. She started walking away from the house when she saw Jess leaning against a tree across the road. She took a deep breath before slowly walking over to him. "Making sure I didn't kill her, huh?"

"Well you were very jealous of Shane back in the day." Jess smirked slightly.

"Well I can assure you that Lane is fine." Rory said.

Jess sighed and glanced at her. "We weren't trying to hide it." He said.

"That's what Lane said."

"Are you ok?" He asked.

Rory shrugged. "Just didn't expect to walk in on that. I guess it will take a while to get my head round it." She said.

"Sure." Jess nodded.

Rory glanced at him. "Jess, I want you to be happy, ok? I've always just wanted you to be happy. And I know it's a bit weird because of the history between us but I guess if you had to date someone other than me, then Lane is the best choice. She's one of the nicest, most loyal, best friends I could ever ask for. She's one of the good people in this world." She said.

"I know." Jess said.

"Just...don't hurt her ok?" Rory said quietly. "She deserves happiness. You both do. I just...I want you to be happy."

"I am." He nodded.

Rory nodded. "So...I guess I will see you later."

"Are we ok?" Jess asked.

"We're ok." She said. "Just...give me some time to get my head round the fact you're dating my best friend ok?"

"Fair enough." He nodded.

"Just...don't tell Paris I called Lane my best friend." Rory smiled slightly.

Jess smirked slightly. "Your secret's safe with me." He said.

* * *

"Lane and Jess?"

"Yep."

"Jess and Lane?"

"Yup."

"Lane and Jess?"

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed.

"Sorry! I just...I never thought they would..." Lorelai said shocked, sitting down on the couch next to her daughter.

"Yeah, well they are. For a year now apparently." Rory sighed.

Lorelai glanced at her. "Are you ok?" She asked.

Rory shrugged. "I don't know." She admitted. "I mean, Lane's great and anyone would be lucky to have her. I just never thought it would be my ex. I mean, she hated him when we were younger."

"People can change though, hon." Lorelai said.

"I know. And I know Jess has. I do know that. And I want to be happy for them. I really do. I just...I guess it makes me miss Logan, you know." She admitted.

"What?" Lorelai said surprised. "Logan? I thought you haven't heard from him since..."

"I haven't." Rory said quickly. "I just...I saw the way they were looking at each other before they realised I was there. Lane and Jess, I mean. They were...well, I could tell it was real. I've been walking around a lot since finding out about them and I guess it just got me thinking about Logan. Silly, really."

"No, it's not silly. Logan was a bit part of your life." Lorelai said softly.

"Yeah..." She sighed. "He's married now though."

"He is? How do you know that?" She said surprised.

"Saw an invitation at Grandma's for their wedding." Rory said.

"Aw hon..."

"I'm fine." Rory assured her. "I just...I guess I never thought coming home would be like this." She sighed. She glanced at her mom. "Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"I've quit my job." She admitted quietly.

"What?" Lorelai said surprised. "But I thought you were enjoying it..."

"I was." Rory said. "I just...I don't know. I missed home. I've missed so much of Josh' life. I don't want him to forget he has a sister."

"That would never happen. He adores you." Lorelai said softly.

"I just...I wanted to be closer to home. I don't know what I'm going to do but I'm hoping I will get some inspiration coming back. Are you mad?" She asked hesitantly.

"Not mad. Just a bit...surprised." She said. "It's obviously your choice, hon. If you feel like it's time for a change, then trust your gut."

"Thanks mom." Rory smiled softly.

* * *

Luke glanced across at Jess as he filled up the coffee jugs at the diner. "So you and Lane huh?" He said.

Jess glanced at him. "Things get round fast." He said.

"So it's true?" He asked.

"Yup." Jess nodded.

"Huh." Luke said.

Jess glanced at him. "We weren't hiding it. We just...we wanted to tell Rory first. We owed her that."

"No, it's fine. I get that." Luke said. He glanced at his nephew. "You happy?" He asked.

Jess glanced at him and gave him a small smile. "Yeah." He nodded gruffly.

"Good. You deserve it." Luke said gruffly. "Go clear some tables." He said smirking slightly.

Jess smirked. "Whatever you say, Uncle Luke." He said picking up the rag to go clean the tables. He glanced back at him. "Hey Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." Jess said.

"Just don't break her heart. She's a good kid." Luke said.

"I won't." He said.

"Good." Luke said.

 **So I hope you liked it! Sorry it's a shorter chapter but I've got an idea for the next chapter and I felt like it would fit best in a new chapter so I promise the next one will be longer. :) Please keep reviewing as I love reading what you think! Thanks again for your support! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**So I'm on a roll and thought I would treat you to another chapter! :) Hope you like it! :)**

Chapter 3

Rory couldn't help but smile as she took in the familiar surroundings and uniforms as she and Paris walked through Chilton.

"Oh god, were we ever this young?" Rory said.

"Never." Paris said.

"There they are. Two of our finest. How are you, Rory?" Headmaster Charleston smiled walking up to them.

"Very well. Good to see you, Headmaster Charleston." Rory smiled.

"And Paris, you're looking well, prosperous, happy?" He said.

"How old is that drinking fountain?" Paris asked.

"I don't know. Twenty years, maybe more." He said.

"You know a drinking fountain contains more rotavirus than a toilet." She said.

"This is the first I've heard of it."

"Chipped in $100,000 to the capital improvement plan. Where are the capital improvements?"

"Your money was well spent, Paris, and appreciated. Come, come, we have some time. Sit with me." He said leading them into his office.

"I could have coffee made if you want. Espresso? Cappuccino?" He offered.

"I'm fine." Rory said.

"Nice machine, though. Real nice. May I ask...?" Paris said.

"I paid for it myself, Paris." Headmaster Charleston said.

"That wasn't necessarily my question. Can I use your john?" She asked.

"Uh, of course." He said. "There is no one quite like Paris Geller." He smiled slightly as Paris left the room.

"Agreed." Rory laughed.

"So let's talk about you. Are you married?" He asked.

"Not yet."

"Good, be picky. And where is home?"

"Oh..uh..well it was New York. But I've recently come home for a bit. I'm trying to find something new to try." She admitted.

"I'm sure you will find it. I read your New York article. I just stumbled on it one day. Such a nice surprise." He smiled.

"I've gotten a lot of good feedback." She nodded.

"I've read of lot of your work. I always enjoy it."

"Thank you." She smiled self consciously.

"I'm sorry about your grandfather. He was a friend. I miss him." He said sincerely.

Rory's smile faltered slightly. "Me too." She said quietly.

"A lava stone counter. French, right?" Paris asked returning from the toilet.

"It was there before me, Paris." He sighed.

"I believe you." She said.

"Sorry, I have to take this." Rory said as her cell rang.

"Oh, please don't." Headmaster Charleston said.

"I'll be right back." She smiled slightly before leaving the room. She answered her cell and after having a quick chat wit her mom, she started heading back to the office when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Fancy seeing you here."

Rory turned and couldn't help but smile. "I could say the same to you." She said.

"It's good to see you, Mary." He grinned.

"You too, Tristan." She said. "I should..uh..get back..." She said gesturing to the office.

"Sure. Catch up later?" Tristan asked.

"Sure." She nodded.

Later that morning, Paris and Rory were walking down a hall towards the classrooms they were giving a talk to.

"See you afterwards?" Paris said.

"See you afterwards." Rory smiled before entering her classroom. She glanced up at all of the students looking expectantly back at her. She took a deep breath before starting to talk. "We all have our proclivities, right? The things we loved before Chilton, the subjects we wanted to study. I had them. Literature, history. And I absorbed them. But with time, I discovered that it's the stealth subjects, the ones I discovered while I was here, that really expanded my mind the most. I love music. So I thought, I'll take a music course. Composition and theory. How hard could it be? Well..." Rory chuckled slightly, followed by the class. "It was a struggle. Let's put it that way. I had this notion that somehow my extensive familiarity with Nick Cave and Radiohead and a smattering of Stravinsky destined me for success. So I'll never forget the day that I realised my composition class required composing." She joked, causing the lass to laugh again. "But I did it. I composed the melody, I added the harmonies, I drew those treble and bass clefs, I wrote those whole notes, those half notes, those quarter notes, those rest stops, and while you'll never witness a public performance of my composition because of that experience, I can see music when I hear it. I only ever heard it before. And I'll always be grateful for that." She smiled.

* * *

"You got time for lunch?" Paris asked.

"I'm starving." Rory nodded.

"How about Steady Eddie's?" Paris suggested.

"Or the Italian place?"

"Is it okay if we smell like garlic?"

"Not smelling like garlic is way overrated if you ask me. So what do you think? The Italian place? Paris?" Rory asked seeing her staring across the corridor.

"Oh my god." She said before disappearing into the toilet.

"Paris?" Rory said following her.

"Of course, Tristan was going to be here! Why wouldn't he? With that pouty mouth, those liquid eyes. Who else? The janitor in softer light? What is this? What am I feeling?" She exclaimed.

"I don't know. What are you feeling?" Rory asked confused.

"I'm feeling fear and loneliness and heartache. Listen to me. I sound like a freaking Blake Shelton song! My hands are shaking, my heart is pounding. God I thought I was past this!" Paris groaned.

"Past what? Tristan?" Rory said confused. "Paris, he's just here for the same reason as us."

"You don't seem so surprised. Why aren't you surprised?" Paris said.

"Well...I bumped into him earlier." She admitted.

"And you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't realise you'd freak out like this! Paris, it was years ago. Surely you can't still be hung up on Tristan? I mean, you're happy with Doyle. You've got kids together. Right? You are happy with Doyle?" Rory said.

Paris let out a breath and leant on one of the sinks. "Yeah, I am happy." She said quietly.

"So...why are you freaking out?"

"I don't know." She said honestly. "I just...I guess I just wasn't expecting to see him, that's all."

"I get that." Rory said.

Paris sighed. "Sorry for the freak out."

"It's fine. I understand." Rory said.

"Maybe I should skip lunch. I think...maybe...I should head home. To Doyle." She said quietly.

"Ok." Rory smiled softly. "We'll catch up another time?"

"Sounds good. Thanks." Paris smiled softly.

The two of them left the toilets and headed down the corridor.

"I'm going to go say goodbye to Headmaster Charleston." Rory said.

"Ok. Say bye from me. See you around?" Paris said.

"Definitely." Rory smiled giving her a hug. "Bye Paris."

"Bye." Paris smiled before walking off.

"Thank you for stopping by." Headmaster Charleston smiled.

"I wouldn't leave without saying goodbye." Rory said.

"Now, I have a question and there's a point to it." He said.

"Ok..."

"Have you ever considered getting your master's?"

"Why?" She asked.

"So you could come back and be on the faculty here." He said.

"Oh. Wow." Rory said shocked.

"It's not a bad place to work." He said.

"Not at all. I'm very flattered." Rory said.

"I've always thought the world of you, Rory. All of us here have. And your experience since you left us. Top of your class at Yale, your writings. We have a spot open for you in whatever department you choose. English, history...uh, not so much musical composition." He smiled slightly.

Rory laughed. "Oh, well then I'm out of here." She joked.

"Thoughts?" He said.

"I thought about getting a master's. Years ago. A PhD. But I was impatient. I wanted to get out into the world." She admitted.

"Yes, you were always internally stronger than everyone else. I suppose you get that from your mother. She was a real spitfire." He smiled.

"Still is." She smiled slightly.

"We would be very honoured to have you on our faculty." He said.

"And...I would be very honoured to be part of your faculty. I guess I've never even thought about teaching." She said honestly.

"I believe you would be very good. I saw some of your talk. The students loved you. They really reacted to you. I believe you would be an exceptional teacher." He said sincerely.

"Can I take some time to think about it?" Rory asked.

"Of course. Here's my card. Let me know what you decide." He said.

"Thank you." She smiled.

"I hope to hear from you very soon, Miss Gilmore." He smiled.

"Bye Headmaster Charleston." Rory smiled.

* * *

Rory got back to Stars Hollow and decided to stop by the diner. She opened the door and stopped suddenly. She spotted Lane and Jess behind the counter, working. She watched as they chatted quietly together, Lane laughing at something Jess had said and then Jess smirking in return. She watched as Jess leant in a gave her a quick kiss before saying something again to make Lane laugh. She couldn't help but notice how natural and happy they looked together. She took a deep breath before slowing walking up to the counter. "Hey..." She said. She couldn't help but smirk slightly as the two of them jumped apart in surprise.

"Oh hi Rory!" Lane said, blushing slightly.

"Rory." Jess nodded.

"You know, you don't need to hide it anymore. I know now." Rory said but smirked slightly to show them she was teasing them.

"Oh...well, we didn't want to rub it in your face..." Lane said.

"It's fine." She sighed. She saw them looking at her dubiously. "No honestly." She said. "I can see how happy you are together. Who am I to stand in the way of that?" She said.

"You really mean that?" Lane said.

"Yeah." She smiled softly. "I really do."

"Thanks Rory." Lane said letting out a relieved breath, coming round the counter and giving her a hug. "You don't know how much that means to us."

"Yeah. Thanks." Jess nodded.

"Well, you're lucky I sort of got some good news today." Rory smiled slightly.

"What news?" Lane asked.

"You know how I went to Chilton today?" She said.

"Yeah.." Lane nodded.

"Well Headmaster Charleston sort of offered me a job to teach there." Rory said ducking her head slightly. "I mean, I'll have to get my master's first but yeah, he offered me a job afterwards."

"Wow, Rory, that's great!" Lane exclaimed.

"I never even thought about teaching." Rory admitted.

"You'd be great." Jess said.

"You think?" She asked.

"Well I seem to remember you were a pretty good tutor to me." Jess smirked.

Rory laughed. "I don't know about that. I don't think I taught you that much."

"You were good. I was just a bad student back then. But you were good." He said.

"You really think I could be a good teacher?" Rory asked them.

"Definitely!" Lane nodded.

"Yup." Jess said.

"Well...maybe I will look into getting my master's then." She said. She glanced at them. "Thanks guys." She smiled softly.

"Anytime." Lane smiled.

"I should get going. I told mom I would let her know how it went. See you later?" She said.

"See you later." Jess nodded.

Rory smiled at them before heading towards the door. She glanced back at them before she left and couldn't help but smile as she saw them laughing together. She let out a breath before leaving the diner. She started walking down the road away from the diner. She took her cell out to see if her mom had left her a message when suddenly she bumped into someone. "Oh, sorry!" She said looking up.

"No problem, Mary." Tristan gave her his trademark grin.

"Tristan?" She said surprised. "What are you doing here?" She asked.

"You promised we would catch up. But you left pretty quickly." He said.

"Sorry. I..uh..got an offer and I just needed to think. I totally forgot. Sorry." Rory said sheepishly.

"So...are you free for a coffee?" He asked.

Rory glanced up at Tristan and she noticed how much he had changed over the years. He was a lot burlier and his hair was shorter. He still had his trademark grin but he seemed...different. Different to how he was when he was at Chilton. She hesitated slightly, thinking about Paris' reaction to having seen him. "I don't know..." She said.

"Come on, Mary. It's only a coffee. Please?" Tristan said.

Rory glanced at him and could see the sincerity in his face. She couldn't help but be intrigued. She hesitated for a moment. "Tristan..."

"I'll stop calling you Mary." He smirked.

Rory laughed. "Ok fine! One coffee." She said.

"That's all I ask." He grinned.

"Come on. Let's go to Weston's." Rory shook her head, smirking slightly.

 **Hope you liked it! :) Thanks again for all your support. I really do appreciate it! :) Please keep the reviews coming! :)**


	4. Author's Note

**Just a quick note to clarify some things you've been asking about:**

 **-Lane and Zach were married but didn't have kids and they separated and divorced amicably. They are still both part of Hep Alien.**

 **-I always thought Rory would have been a bit more successful and I thought it was stupid of her not to take the teaching job. As to why she gave up her ideal job in this, I always felt like Rory would struggle being away from home and her family. That's why I gave her a good few years working there but now I feel like she'd want something different.**

 **-I always thought Jess and Lane would get on well if they had been given the chance especially since they went to the same school when they were younger and the fact that Lane works at the diner so would be around Jess quite a bit. They both loved music as well.**

 **-I also thought it was such a bad idea to break up Paris and Doyle. I honestly thought they belonged together. They were soulmates in my eyes.**

 **Anyway, just wanted to clarify some of my changes. :) Hope you're enjoying it and hope you continue to read it! Thanks for all your support! :)**


	5. Chapter 4

**I'm really into writing today so here's another chapter! :P**

Chapter 4

Rory glanced up from her coffee at Tristan. "So what have you been up to then since we last saw each other?" She asked.

"You mean from when I broke into Bowman's dad's safe and got shipped off to military school?" He smirked slightly.

"Yeah." Rory smiled slightly.

"Well I got through military school and then I got as far away from my family as I could. I studied engineering at Stanford." Tristan said.

"Stanford University?" Rory said surprised.

"Don't act so surprised!" He smirked.

"Sorry." She said sheepishly. "I just...I never thought you were really into your studies...I mean, you never really took it seriously." She said.

"I guess military school changed me." He shrugged. "You can't really get away with much there so I learnt the hard way. So I kept my head down and it was actually good for me. I made some good friends there. It really made me think about what I really wanted out of life. The teachers there...They made me believe I could actually do something. So I applied to Stanford and noone was as shocked as me when I got the acceptance letter." He chuckled.

"That's really great, Tristan. You deserve all the success. I knew you could do more." Rory smiled.

"Thanks." He said ducking his head slightly. "It was finally like I was free when I cut ties with my family." He admitted.

"You don't speak to them at all?" Rory asked surprised.

"The only person I was close to was my grandfather and he passed away a few years ago now so...yeah." Tristan shrugged.

"Oh I'm sorry." She said quietly.

"It's ok. I guess...well, I guess you know how that feels." He said hesitantly, glancing at her. "I heard about your grandfather. I was really sorry to hear about him passing away. I know you were close to him. He was a good man." He said.

Rory gave him a small smile. "Thanks Tristan." She said softly.

"So what have you been up to? I mean, I know you've been at the New York Times for a few years. I kept track of your stuff and read everything. It was great." He smiled.

"You read everything I wrote?" She asked shocked.

"You were always the best writer at Chilton. You were the first person to really go up against Paris." Tristan said.

"Thanks." She said self consciously. "Well, yeah, I was part of Obama's campaign trial and then I got that job. It was great, really. I loved working there. I just...well you'll think it's pathetic but I missed home." She admitted.

"That's not pathetic." Tristan said. "I remember how freakishly close you and your mom are. Must be nice to have that sort of bond."

"Yeah...it is." Rory smiled softly.

"So what are your plans for now then? Are you staying around here?" He asked.

"Well...I'm actually thinking of getting my master's. Headmaster Charleston actually offered me a teaching job at Chilton and I'm seriously considering it." She admitted.

"Wow! That would be perfect for you." He smiled.

"You think?"

"Are you kidding? You loved school! I don't think I've ever met anyone who loved school as much as you. Well, except for Paris." Tristan joked. "Maybe if I had a teacher with your sort of enthusiasm, I wouldn't have got into so much trouble at school." He said.

"Or maybe if you didn't hang out with people like Duncan and Bowman." Rory said with a slight smirk.

"Yeah alright!" He chuckled. "I guess you were right about them two."

Rory grinned. "Can I do a really late I told you so?"

"I think you just have." Tristan smirked.

"Rory!" A voice suddenly exclaimed.

Rory looked up to see April rushing in, grinning excitedly. "April!" She exclaimed getting up and giving her a hug. "What are you doing here? I didn't know you were coming. Luke didn't say."

"Dad doesn't know yet." April admitted. "I wanted it to be a surprise. It's Spring Break and well, I think you know I'm not really a Spring Break kind of person." She joked.

"You take after me." Rory grinned. "Did I ever tell you about going to Florida with Paris for Spring Break?"

"Hang on, you and Paris went for Spring Break together?" Tristan said. "This I have to hear!"

"It's a long story." Rory laughed. "We got take out, watched The Power of Myth in our rooms, kissed, got too drunk courtesy of Madeline and Louise and then took turns throwing up. Let's just say, we never went on Spring Break again."

"Wow." Tristan laughed.

"You are even more cooler than I thought you were." April laughed. "Sorry, am I interrupting something?" She asked glancing at Tristan.

"Oh, no, it's fine. April, this is Tristan. He's an old friend from Chilton. Tristan, this is my sister, April. She's Luke's daughter." She explained.

"Nice to meet you." Tristan smiled.

"You too." April smiled. "So have you got time to catch up?"

"Of course! I mean...uh..." Rory said glancing at Tristan.

"It's cool, you go catch up. Here's my number. Keep in touch yeah?" He smiled.

"Sure." Rory smiled. She hesitated before giving him a hug. "It was really good to see you."

"You too, Mary."

"Hey, you promised you'd stop calling me that!" Rory exclaimed.

"Well I had to say something to get you to agree to have a coffee with me." Tristan grinned. "See you around, Rory."

"Bye Tristan." Rory smirked, watching him leave. She turned back to April who was smirking at her. "What?"

"He's cute." April said innocently.

"Who, Tristan? He's just a friend." She said.

"A friend who happens to be really hot." She grinned.

Rory rolled her eyes. "Remind me again why I missed you?" She teased as they headed out of Weston's.

"Because I'm the best sister!" April grinned.

"Hmm..." Rory smirked.

"So any gossip?" She asked.

"Oh I don't know, I mean unless you can count Jess and Lane dating gossip, not really." Rory shrugged.

"Wait, what?" April's eyes widened.

"Yeah, exactly my reaction when I walked in on them kissing." Rory laughed.

"So you're...ok with this?" She asked cautiously.

"I mean, it was weird. Still is I guess. But they're happy and I do want them to be happy so..." Rory said.

"That's really cool of you." April said.

"Well I am the cool sister after all." Rory joked.

April laughed. "Besides, you're obviously not hung up on Jess anymore because you're clearly into Tristan." She grinned.

"Hey, does Luke know about Freddie?" Rory said.

"Ok, I'll stop." April smirked.

"Thank you very much." Rory smirked.

"I wish I'd never told you about Freddie now." She pouted.

"Nah, you need my diversions so you can talk sexy to him on the phone." Rory grinned.

April laughed. "I guess I do. Friends again?" She asked, holding out her hand.

"Friends again." Rory laughed, shaking her hand. "Come on, let's go give your dad the surprise of his life. I know he's missed you." She grinned as they headed towards the diner. She opened the door to the diner and couldn't see Luke anywhere. She grinned at Jess behind the counter. "Look who decided to show up!" She said.

"Hey!" Jess smiled coming round to hug April. "What are you doing here?"

"Surprise visit. We're on Spring Break at the moment." April smiled, reciprocating the hug.

"Oh yeah and of course Stars Hollow is the first place you think of for Spring Break." Jess smirked.

"It's good to see you too, cuz." She grinned.

"How's MIT going?" He asked.

"Good, I'm enjoying it." She nodded. "But forget about that, I hear there's some new developments involving you and a certain other diner worker." She teased.

Jess blushed slightly. "You approve?" He asked.

"Hey, I love Lane, you know that. I just like teasing you." April grinned.

"You're too much like Rory." Jess grumbled.

"Thanks!" She grinned.

"Hey Jess, did you order more buns...April?" Luke said shocked as he appeared from the stock room.

"Surprise!" April said.

"What are you doing here?" He said.

"Geez, thanks dad!" She teased. "I'll go if you want."

Luke smirked slightly. "Sorry." He said sheepishly. "Come here." He said engulfing his daughter into a big hug. "I thought you were going to your mom's for this break."

"She's gone off somewhere with this new guy of hers so I figured I'd crash Stars Hollow. It's ok I'm here right? I mean, you've got space for me now Rory's back?"

"Of course! You'll have to bunk with Rory seeing as you normally stay in her room but if you're both cool with that...?" He said.

"Cool with me." Rory smiled.

"Me too!" April smiled.

"Then it's very ok, April. You know you're always welcome here. Anytime. I've missed you, kid." He said gruffly.

"I've missed you too, dad." She said softly.

* * *

Rory glanced round the living room where all the family were gathered watching a movie that evening. She looked over at her mom and Luke snuggled up on the couch with Josh snuggled up next to them. She smiled as she remembered how excited they all were when they found out Josh was going to be in their lives. And when he finally arrived into the world, she had never seen her mom and Luke so happy. And she was so happy for them as well. She knew they had been trying to have a kid together. She then glanced over at Jess who was in the other armchair with April sat on the arm of the chair, April giggling at something on Jess' cell. She smiled as she watched them. It had been nice to see the two of them really form a close cousinly bond over the years. And she was really happy to be part of their family as well. When her mom and Luke had finally got back together, Luke had really stood up to Anna over the April situation and April was finally allowed in their lives. It felt so natural and herself and April clicked almost immediately. It was like they were always meant to be sisters. She watched as April typed something on Jess' phone, giggling as Jess tried to get the phone off her but she smiled triumphantly when she had obviously done what she had intended to do. Rory then heard Jess' cell ring and watched him roll his eyes at April who grinned at him, before he got up and answered it quietly, a smile appearing on his face as he did so. Rory could always tell by how he was talking that it was probably Lane he was talking to. She glanced back over at April who was now smiling down at her own cell. Suddenly, she felt her own cell vibrate in her pocket. She took it out and she couldn't help but smile when she opened the text she had received. **_It was great catching up with you today, Mary. Hope we can get another coffee together again sometime soon. :) T x_**

 **So I hope you liked it! I always believed that April would fit in well with their family and I really wanted to show that. I didn't really like what they did with her in the revival. So I hope you liked her appearing in it. :) Please keep the reviews coming. Your support really does mean so much to me so thank you! :)**


	6. Chapter 5

**Thank you so so much for all your support! It really does mean so much. :) Sorry this chapter's a bit shorter but I promise the next one will be longer. :)**

Chapter 5

Lorelai squinted her eyes open and smiled as she watched Luke get dressed for work in his usual attire. She always loved this moment of the morning.

"Stop staring, would you." He said gruffly.

"I'm admiring." Lorelai grinned.

"Uh huh." Luke said but smirked slightly. "Go back to sleep, it's still early." He said softly.

"It's nice having all the kids here, isn't it?" She smiled softly.

Luke smiled. "Yeah it is." He said softly. "Now go back to sleep, you don't need to go into work for another few hours yet. I'm going to go get Josh up."

"Ok." Lorelai smiled. "Love you." She said closing her eyes again.

"Love you too." Luke smiled softly, kissing the top of her head before leaving the room.

* * *

Rory looked up from the kitchen table the following morning as she heard the front door open. She smiled as she saw Jess come through to the kitchen. "Have they actually trusted you with a key now?" She teased.

"Nah, you know they never lock the door." He smirked.

Rory laughed. "True." She said.

"What are you doing up so early?" He asked.

"Looking up possible places for my master's." Rory said gesturing to her laptop.

"Ah, the infamous pro con list." Jess said noticing the piece of paper on the table.

"Of course." Rory said.

"Yale?" He said surprised. "You're thinking about going back to Yale?" He asked.

"Thinking about it." She nodded. "It's only an option though."

"Well according to this list, it's miles in the lead." Jess commented.

"Well it is a great place." Rory gave him a small smile.

"I'm sure it is." He said.

"Anyway, what are you doing here so early?" She asked.

"School run."

"Ah, I forget you're now quite the domestic." She teased.

"It helps Lorelai and Luke out and I'm not up to much at the moment so why not." He shrugged. "You had breakfast yet?"

"Not yet." She shook her head.

"I'm going to make some eggs for Josh. You want some?"

"Please!" Rory nodded enthusiastically.

"Seriously, how are you two so loud in the morning?" April grumbled, appearing at the door to Rory's bedroom.

"Here's the college girl!" Jess smirked.

"I can't believe you're so awake at this time!" She groaned sitting down at the table and resting her head on it.

"I lived with Luke. I learnt to be awake at this time." He smirked.

"I need coffee." She mumbled.

"Yes, we've finally converted you!" Rory grinned. "Here." She said pouring some for her.

"Thanks." She said sipping it eagerly. " And nah, MIT converted me. I need coffee if I have to stay up all night studying." April said.

"Mom and I are still taking the credit. Plus it's really going to annoy your dad." She grinned.

"Well that is a perk." April laughed.

"I still say I'm old enough to walk to school by myself." Josh mumbled as he came into the kitchen.

"And there's our happy bro!" Rory teased. "Hey, April, I think he takes after you in the morning department."

"Don't worry Josh, we'll stick together." April grinned. "Hey, how about I take you to school today? Seeing as I'm up anyway, I was going to check out the bookstore." She said.

"Hey, Josh likes going with me." Jess said.

"Sure he does." Rory teased.

"I want to go with April!" Josh said perking up.

"See, he likes me better!" She grinned.

"Aw, is Jess feeling left out now?" Rory grinned.

"Don't worry, we still love you." April played along.

"Eat up and be quiet." Jess rolled his eyes, giving them all a plate of food.

"Thanks Jess!" Rory grinned.

"Thanks cuz!" April grinned.

* * *

"Hey Luke!" Rory smiled as she sat down at the counter in the diner later that day.

"Hey." Luke smiled. "How's the decision making going?" He asked.

"I think I've decided." She admitted.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Uh...I think I'm going to go back to Yale." She said.

"Really? Well, that's great." He smiled.

"Really?" Rory asked glancing up at him.

"Have you talked to your mom about it?" He asked.

"Yeah I came via the inn. She said to do whatever made me happy. I..uh..I think I'm going to use the money Grandpa left me to finance it." She said quietly. She glanced up at him. "I feel like he would be happy about what I was doing with them money."

Luke smiled softly at her. "I think he would too."

Rory smiled softly at him. "He was a Yale man after all."

Luke chuckled. "And didn't we know it."

Rory laughed. "He was very proud of it."

"And he would be very proud of you right now. I know he would." He smiled reaching across and squeezing her hand.

"Thanks Luke." She said softly. "So it's cool to have April around for a bit isn't it?" She said.

Luke smiled. "Yeah it is. I've missed her."

"Me too." Rory said.

Luke glanced at her. "Have I told her how much I love the fact that you two get on so well?" He said.

"It's not hard. She's great." Rory smiled.

"So are you." Luke said.

"Luke..." Rory said ducking her head self consciously.

"I mean it. I'm happy April's visiting but it's good to see you as well. Your mom's really been missing you as well." He said.

"I know. I've been missing her too." Rory said. "All of you."

"You want some a burger?" He asked.

"Yes please! I've missed your burgers." She grinned.

"Coming right up." Luke smiled.

* * *

April was walking through the square after going into the bookstore and going by the inn to say hi to Lorelai when she suddenly saw a familiar figure talking to Gypsy. She raised her eyebrows and waited until he started to leave before she hurried to catch up with him. "So are you stalking my sister now then?" She smirked.

Tristan glanced at her and smirked slightly. "April, right?" He said.

"That's me." She nodded. "So what are you doing talking to Gypsy?"

"She's offered me a job." He grinned.

"A job? Here? In Stars Hollow?" April said surprised.

"Is that a problem?" He asked.

"Not to me. But have you asked Rory about it?" She raised her eyebrows.

Tristan shrugged. "Figured she wouldn't mind. She'll be off doing her own thing soon enough anyway." He said.

"You and me both know that she's going to take that job at Chilton which means she will be around here. I have a feeling that might be why you've decided to find a job here..." April said.

Tristan glanced at her. "Why do you have to be as smart as her?" He said.

"So I'm right!" She smiled triumphantly. "You like her! You're staying around so that you can win her round, aren't you?"

"Is that so bad?" He asked.

"Nope." April said shaking her head.

"So why the interrogation then?" He chuckled.

"Because I wanted to tell her I told her so." She grinned.

Tristan smirked slightly. "You know, I can tell why you and Rory get on so well."

"So are you going to tell her that you've got a job round here?" She said.

"Maybe." He said.

"Are you going to tell her you like her?" She grinned.

"You don't stop, do you?" He chuckled, amused.

"I guess that's Rory and Lorelai's influence on me." April joked. "So are you?"

"I don't know. She probably doesn't even feel the same." Tristan said.

"Oh I think she does." She said.

"How do you know?" He glanced at her. "Did she say something?"

"No, but she did spend a lot of time denying it and saying you two were just friends." April said. "But I don't believe her."

"Well I doubt she'd ever agree to going out with me. I spent two years at Chilton trying to persuade her." He told her.

"Yes but back then you didn't have the help of her amazing sister." She grinned. "You know Miss Patty's?" She said.

"The dance studio? Yeah." He nodded.

"Our town's having a town meeting later. Rory never misses them." April said. "I'll even save you a seat. Oh this is me." She said arriving at the diner.

"Hey, fairy godmother, you don't think you could solve my living situation as well do you and find me somewhere to live around here?" Tristan smirked.

"I'll see what I can do!" April grinned. "Bye Tristan!" She laughed disappearing into the diner.

"See ya." Tristan chuckled, shaking his head as he started walking off.

 **Hope you liked it! :) Please keep the reviews coming. I'm so overwhelmed by the support for this story so thank you so much! I really do appreciate it. :)**


	7. Chapter 6

**Thank you so much for your continued support! I'm really enjoying writing this one. :) I'm sorry for the shortness again but I really wanted to get something up for you. I hope you still enjoy it despite that. :)**

Chapter 6

"He's turning red." Josh whispered.

"He's definitely twitching." April smirked.

"Ooh he's adjusting his cap!" Rory grinned.

"He's fighting the urge." Jess smirked.

"He's about to blow!" Lorelai grinned.

"Will you lot stop?" Luke grumbled glancing at them.

"You make it too easy for us, doll." Lorelai grinned.

"Well, why do they need to do this stupid musical of Stars Hollow? It's pointless!" Luke exclaimed.

"It's just a bit of fun." April said, glancing round Miss Patty's as they all sat in there for the weekly town meeting.

"That's like the fifth time you've done that. Are you waiting for someone or something?" Rory said.

"No. No one in particular." April said innocently.

"So you didn't invite Tristan here then?" Rory raised her eyebrows.

"What?" She said surprised.

"Because what a coincidence, he's just walked in." Rory said gesturing to the back where he was sneaking in and sitting down at the back.

"No..." April said.

"Uh huh." Rory said not believing her. "So it wasn't you that Jess saw talking to him earlier today?" She said.

April glanced at her. "You know, he got a job at Gypsy's..." She admitted.

"What?" She said shocked. "Why?"

"I don't know. I'm guessing so he can be near you and reconnect." She said.

"That's weird." Rory frowned.

"Or sweet..." April tried.

"No, April, it's weird and creepy." Rory said. "Why would he do that?"

"Why don't you ask him that?" She shrugged.

"Don't worry, I intend to." She said, her jaw clenched.

April glanced at her and suddenly felt that maybe she should have stayed out of all of it altogether. She sighed and focused back onto Taylor.

* * *

"Hey Mary, great meeting! I can see why you love those things." Tristan smirked as he caught up with Rory outside Miss Patty's.

"Why would you do it?" Rory demanded.

"Do what?" He said confused.

"Get a job at Gypsy's! Why would you do that?" She exclaimed. "And don't give me the crap that it's close to home because I know you don't give a crap about your family." She said. "And don't say it's because of me because that's just creepy!"

"Uh...then, no comment?" Tristan quipped.

"Of course you think it's a joke! I actually thought you'd changed, you know? I thought you'd grown up and matured from that cocky, egotistical jerk you were back at Chilton but no, you're exactly the same and you'll do anything to just get in my pants!" She snapped, starting to walk off.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Tristan frowned, walking after her.

"Fair? Tristan, I haven't seen you for years and I meet up with you for one coffee and then you suddenly get a job in the same town as me? That's weird!" Rory exclaimed.

"Or maybe it's because I've thought of you ever since I left Chilton and haven't stopped! You were the only person in my life who believed in me and believed I could do better. Well, except for my grandfather now but he's not here anymore. I only agreed to go to the Chilton reunion because I hoped I would bump into you." He shouted.

"Tristan..." Rory said shocked.

"You know, I haven't dated anyone since Chilton and do you know why? It's because of you. It's always been you, Rory. I've written you so many letters I've lost count over the years." He exclaimed.

"I never received any..." Rory frowned.

"Yeah that's because I could never pluck up courage to actually send them." Tristan admitted. He sighed. "Look, I'm sorry ok? Maybe I came on too strong, I guess that's my speciality. I'll tell Gypsy I can't work for her if that's what you want. I'll disappear if that's what you really want. I just...I had fun catching up with you and well...I didn't want to lose that. I didn't want to lose you again. Not that I ever had you obviously but...god, Rory, you're all I've ever wanted. That first day I met you, I knew you were special." He said. "But I get why you're angry. I'll quit the job ok? And I'll stop bothering you if that's what you want." He sighed.

Rory stood there not really knowing what to say after that confession. "Tristan..."

"It's fine. Look, I'll just go." He said.

"No, wait..." Rory found her voice. She sighed as Tristan turned round. "Don't quit the job." She said quietly.

"What?" He said surprised.

"I know you said you did engineering at Stanford so if this job is something you really want, I can't really stop you." Rory said.

"But if it makes you feel uncomfortable..." Tristan said.

"It's a bit late for that. You've done it now." Rory shrugged. She sighed. "Look, Tristan, maybe we could just keep our distance for a bit. I've had a bit of a whirlwind since I've come back. I've quit my job, I've found out my ex is dating my best friend and now you've shown up again. It's just...It's a lot to take in." She said.

"I get it." He said.

"Tristan..."

"No, I do. I won't bother you ok? I promise. You can make the first move. That's if you even want to." He said.

"Ok...Well, thanks." Rory said quietly, biting her lip slightly.

Tristan nodded. "Well, maybe I'll see you around. Mary." He said with a slight smirk.

Rory just rolled her eyes but smiled slightly. "Bye Tristan." She said. She sighed as she watched him walk away, wondering whether she had done the right thing.

"Are you ok?" A familiar voice said.

Rory looked to see a sheepish April standing there. She sighed. "I'm fine."

"I'm really sorry I meddled. I didn't realise how...complicated your history was..." She admitted.

"How do you know...?" Rory started to ask but suddenly saw her mom giving her an apologetic look. "Oh..." She said.

"Don't be mad at her. I made her tell me. And I'm really sorry I meddled." April said sincerely. "Can you forgive me?"

Rory smiled slightly and put her arm round her. "You buy me lunch tomorrow at the diner and we're good." She said.

April let out a breath and grinned. "Deal!" She said.

* * *

"So quite a meeting, huh?" Lorelai said as she came out of the bathroom into her and Luke's bedroom.

"You could say that." Luke said, distracted, staring at his cell.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"What?" He said looking up at her.

"You seem distracted. Who was on the phone?" She asked.

Luke sighed. "It was Anna..." He said.

"Anna? Why?" Lorelai said surprised.

"Apparently to lay into me for arranging a visit with April without talking to her first." Luke said.

"What?" She said confused. "But we didn't know April was coming!"

"Neither did Anna, apparently. She was waiting at the bus station for hours waiting for April to get home. April didn't tell her she was coming here instead." He frowned. "April told us Anna was away with her new partner. Guess what the weird thing is..."

"Anna isn't dating anyone?" Lorelai guessed.

"Exactly." Luke frowned. "Why would April lie to us? Why would she lie to me? I don't understand it."

"I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation." She tried to assure her husband.

"Lorelai, she lied to me. She lied to Anna. I need to know why. I'm going to talk to her now." He said getting up.

"No, wait!" Lorelai said. "Luke, you're all worked up and angry at the moment. Talking to her now won't get us anywhere. We'll sit her down tomorrow and talk to her tomorrow morning ok? I promise you we will get to the bottom of this." She said.

Luke sighed but sat back down on the bed. "Yeah ok." He relented.

"April's a good kid. I'm sure there will be a reasonable explanation." Lorelai assured him.

"I hope so...Because Anna is pissed." Luke sighed, rubbing his hands over his face.

* * *

"You're stupid." Paris said bluntly on the other end of the phone.

"What?" Rory said surprised.

"Do you know what I would have done to go out with Tristan back at Chilton? I mean, I know I did but that was because you persuaded him to ask me out. But I would have done anything to get him to even notice me and here he is, basically confessing his love for you and you send him packing!" Paris exclaimed.

"He hardly confessed his love for me, Paris..." Rory said surprised.

"Oh come on, Gilmore. Even you aren't that dumb! Tristan has been in love with you since the day he met you." Paris said. "That's why I was so jealous of you! Because I knew he liked you and not me."

"Paris..." Rory said quietly.

Paris sighed. "Look, I know I got freaked out at the reunion when I saw him but I think that was just being back at Chilton and seeing him there. It just took me back all those years. But you reminded me how happy I am right now with my life. And I am. I love Doyle and I love my kids. I'm really happy." She said. "And I want you to be happy as well."

"And you think I would be with Tristan?" She said still stunned by what she was hearing. "Paris, he got a job randomly in my home town. Isn't that a bit creepy?"

"Maybe he shouldn't have done that, I agree with you there. But that just shows how much he wants to stick around." She said. "Look, I'm not telling you what to do. Obviously that's your choice. But I honestly think Tristan is a good guy deep down. Yeah he can come across quite strong but he is a good guy. And he's obviously wanted to see you again after all these years. That must mean something."

"Maybe..." Rory said quietly.

"I need to go but promise me something ok?" She said.

"What?"

"Promise me I'm not the reason why you're having doubts about him..." She said quietly. "I know I freaked out before but that's just how I am. You should know that better than anyone."

Rory smiled slightly. "Yeah I guess so..."

"So please promise me that I'm not the reason why." She said.

"I promise." Rory said. "I just...I've had a weird few days. I just need to take a step back and think about what I want."

"Fair enough. Ok I really have to go now." Paris said.

"Ok. Say hi to Doyle and the kids from me."

"I will."

"Paris?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." Rory said softly.

"Speak soon, Gilmore." Paris smiled.

"You too, Geller." Rory smiled.

 **So I hope you liked it! :) Please keep the reviews coming as I love reading what you all think! Thanks again for your continued support. It really does mean so much to me! :)**


	8. Chapter 7

**Thank you to all of you who have been so supportive of me and this story. I really appreciate it. To those who may think it's funny to leave anonymous rude and insulting reviews, if you don't like what I'm writing you don't need to read it and you definitely don't need to review. Anyway, here's the next chapter. :)**

Chapter 7

April looked up from the couch the following morning when she heard quiet whispering from the stairs and she was surprised to see her dad and Lorelai talking in hushed tones. "Is everything ok?" She asked, startling them.

"You're up already!" Luke said.

"Yeah..." April said. "I thought you two had gone to work already."

"We're both going in late today." Lorelai said.

"Oh. Ok." April said.

"Where's Rory and Josh?" She asked.

"Rory took Josh out to the park with Jess and Lane."

"Oh ok." Lorelai said.

"April, we need to talk." Luke sighed.

"About what?" She frowned putting her book down, watching as her dad sat down next to her and Lorelai on the arm of the couch next to him.

"About why you lied to me about this visit." He said. "Your mom rang me last night."

"Oh..." April said quietly.

"Why did you lie to me? Why did you say she was away with her partner when she's not even dating anyone and infact was waiting for you for hours at the bus station?" He frowned.

"She told you she wasn't dating anyone?" April frowned. "She can't even admit it to you..." She grumbled.

"What?" Luke said confused.

"It's obvious she's seeing someone from work! She's suddenly had so many work events to attend. I'm sorry but how many work events would she have? She owns a shop for god's sake! She still treats me like I'm a little kid and I'm sick of it!" She snapped.

"April, she's still your mother. You left her waiting at the bus station for hours. I know I would have been worried sick if that had happened to me." Luke said sternly.

"I was going to text her on my way here but...I forgot." She admitted.

"I still don't understand why you lied though. Didn't you want to go home? Not that I don't love having you here but your mom isn't happy, April. And she thinks I was in on all this!" Luke said.

"I'll tell her you weren't, I promise!" April said.

"That's not the point, April. You're playing us against each other and that's not fair on either of us. You should go home and talk to your mom." He said.

"No!" April exclaimed.

"April!" Luke said shocked.

"No, you can't make me!" April snapped, getting up. "She's dictated when I can see you for too long! I should be able to decide when I want to come here, not her! I'm not going home and you can't make me!" She said angrily before storming off and slamming the door to Rory's room.

Luke looked at Lorelai stunned. "What just happened?" He said.

"I think she may have a bit of unrelenting anger..." Lorelai said, also surprised by April's outburst.

"Should I go talk to her?" Luke said not really knowing what to do.

"Maybe give her a bit of time to calm down." Lorelai smiled softly. "Look, I really should get to work. Are you going to be ok here?"

"I don't know..." Luke said.

"I believe in you." She smiled encouragingly. "Give her a bit of time to cool down and then talk to her. No shouting, no accusing, just talk. I feel like April has been bottling a lot in."

"Ok." Luke sighed. "Thanks." He said softly, giving her a kiss. "See you later."

"Yeah, see you later." Lorelai smiled.

* * *

Rory smiled as she watched from a bench her little brother having lots of fun playing with a football with Jess in the park. She glanced at Lane who was sat next to her and she had the same smile on her face. She noticed, however, that Lane's gaze was on Jess. She watched her best friend for a bit as she watched Jess. "You really like him, don't you?" She said without realising she was going to say that.

"What?" Lane said coming out of her daze.

"The way you're looking at him. It's...well...it's the way I used to look at him." Rory admitted. She sighed when she saw Lane's guilty face. "I'm not trying to make you feel bad or anything. I'm really not. I guess...well I guess I didn't really realise how serious you were. Which is stupid because you've been dating for about a year so of course you're serious about it." She rambled.

"Rory..." Lane said quietly.

Rory sighed. "I'm sorry. I just...why didn't you tell me? You could have called me. I know you said you wanted to tell me face to face which I get but I think I would have rather known when this was all starting up instead of walking in on the two of you and then finding out it had been going on for a year." She admitted.

"I'm sorry." Lane said sincerely. "You're totally right. I should have called you. I guess maybe I was using the excuse that I wanted to tell you face to face to postpone actually telling you." She said sheepishly. "And that was wrong of me so I am really sorry."

"No, it's ok. I get it." Rory said. "I guess I probably would have felt the same if I started dating your ex." She admitted.

"I really am sorry. I should have told you sooner. I know we should have." Lane said. "But to answer your earlier question...yeah, I really do like him." She admitted. She glanced at her best friend. "But if it's too weird for you, I'll end things." She said.

"You'd do that?" Rory asked surprised.

"Friends before guys. It's always been that way with us." Lane said.

"Lane, I just want you to be happy. I could never ask you to do that." She said. "And Jess is a good guy. I know that. And you deserve a good guy. And he deserves a great girl and you're awesome so..." She smiled softly.

"Thank you." Lane smiled softly, leaning over to hug her. "That means a lot."

"Wow...I think I really needed that chat. I feel so much lighter now." Rory admitted.

"I'm glad you talked to me about it." She said. She glanced over at Jess and Josh. "Hey, do you want to join in?" She asked.

"Us? Playing soccer?" Rory smirked slightly.

"First time for everything right?" Lane grinned.

"You know what, yeah. Let's go whip their butts!" Rory laughed.

* * *

Luke knocked on the door to Rory's bedroom and poked his head round. "Can I come in?" He asked.

April looked up from where she was lying on the bed and nodded silently. "Are you going to ground me?" She asked quietly.

Luke smiled slightly at that. "I don't think that would be very fair in this situation." He said. He sighed. "April, you obviously have some anger towards your mom and me that you've been bottling in. I just wish you would have talked to me about it." He said.

"There's no anger towards you." April said quietly.

"No?" Luke said surprised.

"You've done nothing wrong." She said quietly. "Mom kept us from each other for 12 years and then I finally met you and you actually wanted to step up and be a dad. When I first thought about doing that science experiment, I wasn't even sure I would find my dad but when I did and you actually gave a damn about me, I felt like a part of me that was missing for so long had been filled again. And then mom meddled again and because of me, you and Lorelai split up." She said glancing down.

"April, no..." Luke said softly. "Lorelai and I broke up for reasons separate to you."

"Then why wouldn't you let me meet her? I mean, I know that was probably down to mom saying you couldn't but then suddenly you and Lorelai had broken up. It wasn't a coincidence, dad. I'm not a little kid." April said.

Luke sighed. "No, you're not." He said. "Look, maybe I did push Lorelai away a bit. Well, a lot really. But I was terrified I was going to lose contact with you and I didn't want your mom to take you away from you. She had all the control, April. I'm not blaming her, April, so don't use this to play me against her because that's not fair on me. But I need you to know that me or Lorelai do not blame you for our break up. You were innocent in all of this so don't even think it was your fault ok? A lot of stuff was going on, a lot that was even separate from you and your mom. But it was by no means your fault." He said firmly. "Ok?"

"Ok." She said quietly. She glanced at him. "I sort of get it a bit because I was 12 back then but I'm an adult now and she's still calling the shots. How is it fair that I can only spend one holiday with you a year? I should be able to come and see you whenever I want. Mom shouldn't have a say in that." April said.

"No she shouldn't. And I would love to see you more as well, you know I would. But you need to talk to your mom. You can't just come here without telling her because like it or not, she is still your mom and she is going to worry like crazy when you don't show up when you said you would." Luke said.

"I did apologise for that." April admitted. "I was going to tell her, I swear. I just...I was so excited about seeing you all that I forgot."

"I believe you." He said. He sighed. "April, I really want you to feel like you can talk to me. About anything. If you're upset, I want to know and I want to help you feel better. Ok?" He said softly.

"Ok." She said softly.

"No more secrets?"

"No more secrets." She promised as her cell suddenly rang. "It's mom again. It's the fifth time already this morning." She sighed. "She's also left 5 voice mails and 10 texts, each one getting more and more threatening."

"Threatening?" Luke frowned.

"Not threatening but just stuff like saying I needed to get home now or she'll come and drag me home." April sighed. "You know what mom's like. She still hates the fact that I'm finally part of your whole family."

"Well you are part of my family and you are staying here until you go back to college." He frowned, taking her cell.

"Dad, what are you doing?" April exclaimed.

"Hello?" He answered April's cell. "Ah Anna, it's good of you to call." He said dryly. "April's explained everything to me and just so you know, if you do decide to come here to drag her home, you'll have to get past me first." He said. "I don't care, Anna. April is an adult now. You have no control over my relationship with April. If she wants to see me, it's not down to you to tell her she can't. I thought we were past all this pettiness but apparently we're not. April is staying here for her spring break and she'll call you once she's back at college. I understand why you're angry but April's apologised for making you wait at the bus station and she didn't mean to worry you. That is between you and her but you're not going to ruin her visit with me because quite frankly, I'm getting sick of not seeing her enough as well. Bye Anna." He said before hanging up.

"Oh my god, dad!" April exclaimed.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have answered your cell. I just..." Luke was saying when he was cut off by two arms going round him.

"I love you, dad." April said softly, hugging him tightly.

Luke smiled softly. "I love you too, kid. things are going to change, I promise." He said.

* * *

Later that night, Rory was in her bed while April was on the spare trundle bed. Rory glanced over at her. "I hear you had a rough day. Are you ok?" She asked.

April looked up and sighed. "Just some family drama with my mom." She said. "But dad was great."

"He always is." Rory smiled.

"He really is, isn't he?" April smiled softly. She sighed. "I want to see all of you guys more but I know mom hates the fact that I see you at all. Obviously she can't do anything about it but I know she hates it. And I just think that's unfair on me. I mean, I know things didn't work out between your mom and dad but she would never have even considered keeping him from you, would she?" She said.

"No." Rory said quietly. "No she would have never done that."

"Exactly." April sighed. "I mean I know your relationship with your dad is difficult but at least you were given a chance to know him. I had 12 years of not even knowing who my dad was. And when I finally found him, my mom still thought she called the shots and it's not fair."

"No it's not fair." Rory agreed. "It really sucks that you missed out on all that time with him. Because your dad's pretty great."

April smiled softly. "I know. And my step mom, sister and brother are pretty cool too." She said.

Rory smiled. "Well the feeling's mutual." She said softly. "Look, April, I know family drama can suck but I know from personal experience that bottling all your emotions up doesn't end well. You need to talk to your mom. You need to tell her how you feel."

"Yeah, dad said that..." She sighed.

"And he's right. Nothing's going to be resolved if you refuse to talk to her about it. I get that you're angry and you have every right to be angry but you need to try and move past that because I think you do love your mom deep down."

April was quiet for a moment. "I wish I could forgive her for it. But I just get so angry every time I think about it."

"I used to be the same." Rory admitted. "I know things with my dad are ok now but I've hated him in the past. I've hated him for not caring enough about him, I hated him for never keeping his word to me, I hated him for trying to always break mom and Luke up when mom was at her happiest. I've experienced the same anger you have now. But I knew deep down, that I wanted some sort of relationship with him and I wasn't surprised when mom got back together with your dad because I knew they were always meant to be. I think I'm always going to have some sort of resentment towards my dad but I've managed to try and move past that and things are ok between us now. They're good. They're civil. I know you're angry at your mom but try and think it from her point of view. She's had you for twelve years and suddenly Luke's back in her life and she learns he has a girlfriend. She's going to be intimidated, it's natural. My mom was when my dad had a girlfriend and she wanted to spend time with me. My mom was so jealous but she realised how silly she was being in the end. Be angry ok? You have the right to be. But talk to your mom when you're back at MIT. Ask to have a calm chat and tell her how you really feel. You never know, she might just surprise you." Rory said.

April sighed. "Maybe..." She said. She gave Rory a small smile. "Thanks." She said softly.

"Hey, anytime you want sisterly advice, you call me ok? I'll always answer." Rory smiled.

"Thanks." She smiled softly. "I think I might try and sleep now. Long day."

"Ok. I'll flip the switch. Night April." Rory said.

"Night Rory." April smiled.

 **So I hope you liked it! Please keep the reviews coming! I am constantly overwhelmed by the amount of support I get from you guys so thank you so much! :)**


	9. Chapter 8

**Thank you for the continued support! Here's the next chapter. :)**

Chapter 8

April woke up to her cell vibrating next to her. Her eyes widened when she read the text she had received. She glanced over at Rory who was still asleep before getting out of bed quickly and pulling on a sweatshirt before racing outside the house. She looked around and saw a figure leaning against a tree. She rushed over. "What are you doing here?" She exclaimed.

"I missed you." He grinned.

"Freddie, I only saw you last week!"

"And? Am I not allowed to miss my girlfriend? You talk about Stars Hollow and your dad all the time. I wanted to see it for myself." He said, leaning in to give her a kiss.

"That's really sweet but I haven't even told my dad about you yet!" She whispered, glancing back at the house.

"Well I thought it might be nice to meet him and his side of your family." Freddie said. "But I can go if you're ashamed of me." He shrugged.

April's eyes widened. "I'm not ashamed of you! Freddie, I'm not...You're baiting me." She suddenly narrowed her eyes as she saw him smirk. "You're mean."

"But you love me." He grinned.

April smiled slightly. "I have missed you." She admitted.

"Hi." Freddie smiled, leaning in to give her another kiss.

"Hi." She smiled kissing him back.

"Does your dad know about this secret rendez vous?" A familiar voice said.

April whipped round to see Jess standing there, smirking. "What are you doing here so early?" She said. "Josh is off school now."

"Can't I just come to see my favourite cousins?" He smirked.

"Like that's believable." She smirked slightly.

"So who's the guy?" Jess said.

"Freddie." April said.

"Ah the infamous boyfriend." He nodded.

"You told him about me?" Freddie asked surprised.

"You came up in conversation." She shrugged. "Freddie, this is Jess. He's my cousin."

"Nice to meet you." Freddie smiled.

"You too. You make sure you treat my cousin right." Jess said.

"Jess!" April exclaimed.

"What? He's going to get an even bigger talk from Luke when he finds out." Jess smirked.

"Don't remind me." She groaned.

"See you in there." He smirked before heading inside.

"He seems cool." Freddie smiled.

"Yeah, he is." April smiled.

"So are you going to introduce me to your family or not?" He grinned.

"You're really not worried to meet my dad? He can get very overprotective..." She said.

"Why wouldn't he? You're amazing." He smiled. "I'll just have to prove to him that I love you and that I'm not going anywhere."

April smiled softly. "I love you too." She said. She took a deep breath glancing at the house. "Come on then. Let's go in." She said taking his hand and leading him inside. She heard voices coming from the kitchen so she nervously walked through towards them. She found Jess cooking at the stove and Rory, Josh and Lorelai sat at the table. "Hey..." She said nervously.

"Ah the famous boyfriend!" Lorelai grinned.

"Wait, how did you...?" April said surprised but saw Rory's sheepish look. "Oh." She said.

"Sorry. You know what she's like..." Rory said guiltily.

April smiled slightly. "It's fine. I know you don't stand a chance when Lorelai starts pushing." She teased.

"Excuse me! Should I go and wake your dad?" Lorelai said in mock horror.

April grinned. "Sorry."

"So are you going to do the introductions?" Lorelai grinned.

"Freddie, this is my step mom, Lorelai. And my sister and brother, Rory and Josh." She said.

"I've heard a lot about you all." He chuckled.

"All good I hope." Lorelai grinned.

"Oh April has nothing bad to say about any of you." Freddie smiled.

"Aw April." Rory teased.

"Morning." A gruff voice said behind them.

"Dad!" April said turning round. "Uh...morning..."

"Morning..." Luke said glancing at the unfamiliar boy standing in his kitchen.

"Uh this is...uh...Freddie. He's..uh..well..." April stammered.

"We're dating." Freddie helped her. "It's nice to meet you, sir." He said holding out his hand.

Luke glanced at his hand in surprise but shook it. "You too." He said after a moment. "I..uh..I didn't know you had a...uh..." It was his turn to stumble on his words.

"It's only been a few months." April admitted sheepishly.

"Oh." He said before going over to the cooker to help Jess.

April glanced at Lorelai and Rory for help but it was Josh who broke the silence.

"Do you like soccer?" Josh asked.

"I play a bit." Freddie nodded.

"Are you good?" He asked.

"Oh yeah." Freddie smirked.

"Can we play now?" Josh asked excitedly.

"Uh..sure.." He said glancing at April who just smiled at him.

Josh grabbed his hand and dragged him out the back door. April glanced back at her dad. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about him..." She said hesitantly.

"Why didn't you?" Luke asked, glancing at her.

"I don't know. I just...I love how you're so protective but sometimes it can be a bit...much..." She said cautiously.

"I'm sorry I care." He said gruffly.

"Dad..." April sighed.

"Come on hon, you got in a fight with Dean, you even threatened Jess and you hated Logan. Surely you can see why April might think you might feel the same towards Freddie?" Lorelai said softly.

"I only care." Luke said quietly.

"I know. And I love you for it. But I really like Freddie, dad. I love him actually. Things are really good between us and..."

"You didn't want me messing things up for you. I get it." Luke shrugged. "What does your mom think about Freddie?"

"She doesn't know about him." April said.

"What?" Luke said surprised, glancing at her.

"I'd get the second degree from her and well, you know things aren't great between me and her at the moment so I didn't need the extra hassle." She said.

"Oh." He said, not helping but feeling slightly relieved that he wasn't the last one to find out about Freddie.

"I wanted to tell you. I really did." April said. "I just...this is new for me as well, dad. I just wanted things to stay good."

"I get it." He said.

"Dad..."

"No, I do." Luke said glancing at her. He sighed. "Look, if Freddie makes you happy, then that's good enough for me. Just...be careful ok? That's all I ask."

"I will." She promised. "I really think you'll like him if you give him a chance. You know, he's into baseball and the Red Sox." She said.

"He is?" He perked up glancing at her.

"Yeah. He never misses a game when they're on." She nodded.

"Huh." Luke said.

April smirked slightly at his obvious attempt at trying not to show he cared. "Is it ok if he stays here?" She asked.

"What?" He said surprised.

"I mean, I'm sure he won't mind sleeping on the couch. But he came this far...It would be rude to send him packing." April said hesitantly.

"Of course he can." Lorelai smiled.

"He can?" Luke frowned.

"Come on, Luke. Like April said, he came this far." Lorelai said.

"I'm..uh..going to check on Freddie and Josh." April said leaving through the back door.

"Luke...she wanted to tell you." Lorelai said softly.

"But she didn't." He said.

"She wanted to." Rory said. "She kept telling me she wanted to. But you know what it's like. First love and all that. I didn't even tell mom about Dean straight away." She said.

"Oh yeah, I had to find out from Mrs Kim of all people!" She nodded. "See hon, even we don't tell each other everything."

Luke sighed. "I don't want her to be scared of me."

"Oh Luke, she's not." Lorelai assured her.

"She's really not." Rory said. "She was even saying last night how much she loved you and respected you."

"She was?" Luke glanced at her.

"Luke, you found out about her when she was 12 and you stepped up immediately. You were amazing. Not many men would do that. April's lucky to have you." Rory smiled softly. "And so am I and Josh."

"And me." Jess said. "What?" He said when everyone stared at him. "What, everyone else can be sentimental but I can't?" He smirked slightly.

"See, for Jess to say that, it must be true." Lorelai joked.

Luke smiled slightly. He sighed. "Thank you." He said.

"Give Freddie a chance. He seems like a good kid." Lorelai smiled.

"Yeah..."

"And April is really happy with him. She's told me." Rory said.

Luke nodded. "Am I at least allowed to think about getting into a fight with him if he hurts her?" He said smirking slightly.

Lorelai laughed. "Sure."

Luke smiled slightly. "You want pancakes?" He asked.

"And lots of coffee!" She grinned.

* * *

"You didn't need to take me out for dinner." April said as she walked back towards the house with Freddie.

"I wanted to treat you." Freddie smiled. "I know it was a big thing for you to introduce me to your dad and your family here. I'm sorry if you feel like I forced it."

"No, you didn't." April said. "I wanted to, honest. I just...I've never been in this situation before. You know, having a boyfriend and bring him back to the parents and stuff. Things were going so well between us. I didn't want to ruin it." She admitted.

"You could never do that." He assured her.

"I am really happy you're here." April smiled softly.

"Yeah?" Freddie smiled.

"Yeah." She smiled as they walked up the steps of the porch. She stopped and smiled at him before leaning in to kiss him. "I'm really glad you've finally met my family. And seen Stars Hollow. I love it here." She smiled.

"I can see that. You're so...you...here." He smiled. "You're just yourself and it's nice to see. Your family's great as well."

"Thanks for playing with Josh. You didn't have to do that." She said.

"He's cute." He shrugged. "I don't mind." He assured her. "April, they're your family. I think they're pretty cool."

"Even my dad?" She said smirking slightly.

Freddie laughed. "Well I'm willing to work hard to get his approval."

"I love you." April smiled softly.

"I love you too." He said softly giving her another kiss. "Come on." He smiled taking her hand.

The two of them headed inside and found everyone in the living room. "Hey!" April smiled.

"Oh hey!" Lorelai smiled at them. "We're just about to start a movie. You ready to get stuck into a Gilmore/Danes tradition, Freddie?" She grinned at him.

Freddie laughed. "I'm ready." He nodded.

"Well strap in and get ready to stuff your face." Lorelai joked.

"More like make yourself sick." Luke smiled slightly. He glanced at them. "You two joining us?" He asked, giving April a small smile.

April smiled back. "If that's ok?"

"Sure, take a seat." He smiled.

April smiled and sat down on the floor with Freddie. She glanced round as the movie started and smiled. This was what she wanted more of. This real family feeling. It finally felt like she really belonged somewhere. She felt her hand get squeezed. She glanced at Freddie who smiled at her. She smiled back and leant her head on his shoulder. She was glad she could finally introduce him to the family. She had wanted to for such a long time. She smiled as she focused on the movie and knew this was probably going to be one of her favourite breaks she had spent in Stars Hollow.

 **So I hope you liked it! :) Thanks again for your continued support. Please keep the reviews coming as I love reading what you all think. :)**


	10. Chapter 9

**Thank you so much for your continued support! :) Here's the next chapter.**

Chapter 9

A few days had passed and April was taking Freddie to the inn to show him the horses. "Hey Lorelai!" She smiled going up to the reception desk.

"Hi honey!" Lorelai smiled at her step daughter.

"I wanted to show Freddie the inn. Can I go and show him the horses?" She asked.

"Of course. They've actually just been saddled up so if you two want to go for a ride in the gardens, go ahead." She smiled.

"Seriously?" April said excitedly. "Did you hear her? We can ride!" She grinned at Freddie.

"I heard her." He chuckled.

"Do you want to? Can we go ride? Please say we can go ride?" She said excitedly.

Freddie smirked. "Looks like you might actually kill me if I say no." He chuckled.

"Yes! I love you!" April exclaimed jumping up and down. "Let's go!" She said grabbing his hand and dragging him off.

"One thing though..." He said.

"What?" She asked.

"I'm not exactly an expert at horse riding." Freddie said as they disappeared off to where the stables were.

Lorelai smiled as she watched them go, thinking how cute they were together.

* * *

"I won't let you down, Taylor, I promise!" Rory grinned as she left Doose's. "Oh sorry!" She said bumping into someone.

"No problem." A familiar voice said.

"Oh...hi..." Rory said looking up to see Tristan standing there.

"Hey." He smiled. "You look particularly happy." He noted.

"I've just secured myself a job at the Stars Hollow Gazette." She grinned.

"That's cool." Tristan said. "I thought you were going to get your master's though?"

"Oh I am but it doesn't start until after the summer so I want to earn some money while I'm here." Rory said.

"Sounds practical." He nodded. "Well congratulations." He smiled.

"Thanks!" She grinned. She stood there for a moment. "So..uh..how's your job at Gypsy's going?" She asked.

"Yeah it's good. She's letting me get really stuck in as well which is cool." Tristan said.

"Yeah, Gypsy's cool." Rory smiled. "Well...I'm glad you're enjoying it." She said.

"I was just popping in here for some lunch." He said gesturing at Doose's.

"Oh right. Well...I won't keep you." She said awkwardly, not really knowing what else to say to him. She had tried to avoid him since their chat about her needing time.

"Ok then..." Tristan said just as awkwardly. "So...bye, I guess..." He said heading inside.

"Wait, Tristan?" She said before she knew what she was doing.

"Yeah?" He said turning round.

"You were good at English at school right?" She said.

"I'm sorry, don't you remember what I was like at school?" Tristan smirked slightly.

Rory smiled slightly. "I mean, I know you didn't do much work at school but I remember you were good at English." She said. "Do you maybe want to help with some of the articles for the Gazette?" She asked without realising what she was doing.

"Seriously?" He said surprised.

"The only other people on the Gazette are this old couple so I could do with some help. But don't worry if you don't want to, you probably want your weekends to relax right?" Rory said brushing it off.

"Uh...no, it's fine. I mean, I don't know if I could make it an every week thing but sure, I wouldn't mind helping out every so often." Tristan said.

"Oh. Ok. Well, thanks." She said giving him a small smile. "Uh..I said I'd meet up with April for lunch. So..uh..I guess I'll see you round." She said awkwardly.

"I guess you will." He said smirking slightly.

"Ok..uh..bye." Rory said.

"Bye Mary." Tristan smiled before disappearing into Doose's.

Rory let out a breath once he was out of sight. Why had she done that? She hadn't even thought of asking him to help. Where had that come from? She sighed and started heading towards Luke's to wait for April and Freddie.

* * *

"Thanks Lorelai!" April called, waving, before she and Freddie left the inn to head to Luke's for lunch. "That was so cool!" She exclaimed.

"Really? Because I don't think you told me that once in the last hour." Freddie teased.

"Oh shut up!" She laughed playfully hitting him. "I'm excited. Shoot me."

Freddie chuckled. "I think it's cute." He said.

April blushed slightly. "Flatterer." She said. "And I thought you said you weren't an expert! You looked pretty good to me." She said.

"I guess it's just god given talent." He smirked.

"Sure it is." She said rolling her eyes as they walked down the street where the diner was.

"April..." A voice said.

April stopped as she saw who was standing infront. "Mom?" She said shocked. "What are you doing here?"

"Who's this?" Anna frowned, looking at Freddie.

"My boyfriend." April said crossing her arms against the chest.

"Your...boyfriend?" She said shocked.

"I'm 22, mom. I'm allowed to have a boyfriend." April snapped. "What are you doing here? Dad told you not to come. I don't want to talk to you."

"Well tough, young lady, because I'm taking you home with me." Anna said.

"No, you're not. You can't force me to do anything!" She exclaimed angrily.

"I'm your mom and when I say you're coming home, you're coming home." She said sternly.

"What's going on out here?" A gruff voice said.

"Mom wants me to go home with her." April said.

"I thought I made it clear on the phone, Anna, that April's staying with me during this break." Luke said crossing his arms against his chest.

"I don't care what you said. April spends spring break with me. We agreed this. But no, suddenly you're arranging visits behind me back!" Anna snapped.

"I didn't arrange this, Anna. April surprised me. And doesn't that tell you something? It shows she wanted to see me. And we didn't agree anything. You agreed, I just went along with you but I'm not anymore. April's my daughter as well and I want to see her as much as I can." Luke said.

"Well that's not happening. You can have her a few weeks in the summer and the week before Christmas. That's it." She said.

"Well that's crap and you know it!" Luke said frustrated.

"Shut up!" April suddenly exclaimed.

"April, I'm sorry..." Luke said kicking himself for acting like this infront of you.

"No I don't blame you, dad." April said. She glared at her mom. "Go home. I don't want to see you or talk to you right now. I'm staying here with dad and you can't do anything to stop me!" She exclaimed angrily before running off, Freddie in close pursuit.

Anna whirled on Luke. "This is all you! You've turned her against me. She never used to be like this! This isn't April." She said angrily.

"Seriously? I don't see her enough to turn her against you!" Luke said angrily. "And have you met our daughter? Noone can tell her what to think. This is coming from an angry and upset April who's finally letting you how crap it was that you kept me from her for twelve years of her life and the fact that you're still treating her like a little kid when she's an adult." Luke snapped. "So maybe instead of taking it out on me, you should go and find April and try to actually talk to her instead of ordering her."

"I don't have to take this." Anna snapped before turning around and storming off.

Luke let out an exasperated breath. He turned round to see Rory stood there. "Sorry..." He said.

"Are you going to go after April?" She asked.

Luke sighed. "I'll talk to her later. She's got Freddie anyway. I know her and she will want some space so I'll give her that." He said.

Rory nodded. "I guess lunch is off." She joked.

Luke smiled slightly. "I can still make you something if you like?"

"Nah it's ok. I think I'll go pick up Josh from Babette's and spend some time with him." She smiled.

"Ok. See you for dinner?" Luke smiled.

"Meet you here." Rory nodded. "Bye Luke."

"Bye Rory."

"Oh and Luke?" She said.

"Yeah?"

"I wish my dad would stand up for me like you just did there for April. For what it's worth, I think you're a pretty great dad." Rory smiled softly.

"Thanks Rory." He said softly.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Rory was leaving the bookstore with Josh after treating him to a book of his choice when she spotted Anna sitting in the gazebo.

"Can we go say hi to Jess and Lane?" Josh asked pointing to where they were hanging out in the square.

"Sure. Just stay with them ok? I just need to go do something for a minute." Rory said.

"Ok!" He said before racing off.

Rory watched her brother reach them before she slowly walked up to the gazebo. "This seat taken?" She asked.

Anna looked up. "I don't know why you would even want to sit here. Apparently I'm the devil incarnate." She said bitterly.

"Can you blame her?" Rory said sitting down.

"Excuse me?" Anna narrowed her eyes.

"April. Can you blame her for feeling like this?" Rory repeated.

"She gets to see you all! I don't get why she's so angry!" Anna exclaimed.

"Yes, she gets to see Luke and my mom. For what, a few weeks a year? And I've not always been here so I haven't seen her as much and she's my sister. I love hanging out with April and it sucks that we can't spend more time together. I've had to visit her at MIT to make sure I see her." Rory said.

"You've visited her at MIT?" She asked surprised.

"April never told you?" Rory said surprised.

"April doesn't talk to me that much anymore." Anna said quietly.

"Oh." Rory said awkwardly. She sighed. "You know my mom doesn't want to replace you right?"

"What?" Anna said looking up at her.

"My mom gets that you're April's mom. She's never wanted to replace you. Even back when Luke first found out about April." Rory said. She saw Anna duck her head slightly and she could have sworn she saw a slight sheepish expression. "April and mom get on really well, yes that's true. Mom loves April and I know the feeling's mutual. But you're always going to be April's mom and April knows that. You're always going to be her number one. It was only you and her for the first twelve years of her lives so that's natural."

"Yes everyone keeps reminding me about that." She said bitterly.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just...it's the same for me. My mom freaked out when my dad finally got a serious girlfriend and this girlfriend suddenly wanted to spend time with me. She got jealous and she freaked. She thought I was going to like her better than her which is stupid. My mom brought me up. She's been there my whole life whenever I've needed her. She's my number one, no matter what." Rory said.

"Why are you telling me this?" Anna said glancing at her.

"Because you and April have that same bond. You were all she had for twelve years. She's not just going to throw that away because she's close with us." Rory said. "That special bond is going to be there forever. Yes, April's angry right now but I feel like she has a right to be. But she's always going to love you. You just...maybe you need to give her a little space that she really wants? She wants to be able to come here whenever she likes, not just when you say it's ok. She doesn't want to have to feel guilty about it and it's not fair that she would." She said. She glanced at Anna hesitantly. "April's amazing. Whenever we're together, it's like we've known each other our whole lives. I know I don't have to tell you she's amazing because you know that but you will lose her if you keep pushing her like this. I'm sorry if I'm overstepping the mark but is that what you really want?" She asked cautiously.

"Are you taking April away?" A small voice said.

They turned to see Josh standing there. "Josh, it's ok. Go back to Jess." Rory said softly.

"But I don't want April to go home! I like April. She plays with me when no one else does. I like when April comes to stay." Josh said.

"I should get going." Anna said.

"Oh. Ok." Rory said. "I..." She started to say but Anna was already walking away. "Well...I tried." She sighed. She turned to Josh. "Come on you, let's try and find April." She said.

* * *

Lorelai was surprised when she looked up to see Anna entering the inn and coming over to her. "Uh...hi?" She said hesitantly.

"I need to talk to you. Do you have a minute?" Anna said.

"Uh...sure..." She said confused.

 **So I hope you liked it! :) Please keep the reviews coming as your support really does mean so much to me and I love reading what you all think. Thanks again for all your support! :)**


	11. Chapter 10

**Thank you so much for all your continued support! I love you all so much! :) Here's the next chapter.**

Chapter 10

Lorelai got Michel to hold the fort before leading Anna through to her office. She glanced over at her. "Do you want to sit?" She asked hesitantly. Anna just nodded and sat down so Lorelai joined her. "So..uh...?" She said not really knowing what to say.

"Apparently you're a pretty amazing mom..." Anna said after a moment.

"Oh..well, I try..." Lorelai said confused.

"Your daughter seems to think very highly of you." Anna said glancing at her.

"You spoke to Rory?" She asked surprised.

"More like Rory came to talk to me." Anna said. She sighed. "I messed things up again. With April. I came here to talk rationally to her and I saw her in the street with this boy, who apparently is her boyfriend I find out for the first time now, and she's all happy and she's talking to everyone as they walk down the street and she just...fits. I came to talk calmly to her but then I just flip when I see her and I don't know why. We had a fight and then Luke and I had a fight and now they both hate me..." She said.

"Anna..." Lorelai said awkwardly, not really knowing why she was telling her all this.

"It's not only Rory who thinks very highly of you. April talks about you the whole time. I think sometimes she does it to make a point but she seems to have this special bond with you. And I don't even know why I'm here, but all April and I seem to do now is fight and I know it's probably my fault. It usually is. I just...I'm sorry, I should go." She said getting up.

"Anna, wait..." Lorelai said. She sighed. "I love April." She said honestly. "She's such a great kid and she's Luke's family. Now I may not agree with what you did, keeping Luke out of her life for so long, but there's no doubt you did a great job with her. Anna, you're a good mom and April does love you."

"She doesn't love me that much at the moment." She said.

"She's angry. I've had times like that with Rory." Lorelai admitted.

"You have?" Anna said surprised.

"We didn't talk for months one summer." She said honestly. "It really sucked."

"Wow..you two seem so...close."

"We are. Most of the time. Tell me, if April would have told you she was taking some time out of MIT, what would your reaction be?" Lorelai said.

"That she was crazy." Anna said.

"Exactly." Lorelai smiled slightly. "But I guess Rory's time out actually did her good so it all worked out well in the end. Plus I had something going on with my parents at the time. But anyway, you don't want to hear about me. It was ages ago anyway."

Anna glanced at her. "What am I doing wrong with April? I don't know what to do."

"You're asking for my advice?" Lorelai asked surprised.

"I don't know what else to do. April loves you and after what Rory said, I just...well, I found myself here." She admitted.

"Wow ok...uh..." She said stunned. "Uh...well..." She said hesitantly. "I think the main issue is that April wants to see Luke more right?"

"She wants to see all of you more." She said quietly. "I know I probably come across as a crazy bitch to you and you all feel like I'm keeping April from you but...I barely see April at all nowadays and when she does come home, she doesn't really talk that much. I feel like I'm losing her and I feel like if I tell her she can visit you all whenever she wants, I will lose her completely because she will just always be here." Anna admitted.

"Anna..." Lorelai said softly. "You will never lose April. She loves you. She just wants a bit more space and independence, that's all. And trust me, if I feel like she's deliberately avoiding you, I will make sure that kid calls you. Because I would feel the exact same about Rory."

"Rory did mention about her dad getting a serious girlfriend and one time..." Anna said cautiously.

"And did she tell you that I turned into an insane person?" Lorelai smirked slightly.

Anna smiled slightly. "She said you freaked out." She said diplomatically.

"The understatement of the century." Lorelai joked. "I did freak out because I felt like she would like her better than me and then her dad's girlfriend was insisting that Rory go and visit them any weekend as Harvard was close to where they lived. And I freaked again and I told Rory that I had dibs on her." She admitted. "And then I procrastinated telling her that her dad had rung and wanted her to spend some of Christmas break with them..."

"And you freaked again?" Anna guessed, smiling slightly.

"Yep."

"Sounds familiar." Anna sighed.

"But Rory was quick to tell me I was being stupid and that she would never feel like that and I realised just how crazy I was being." Lorelai said.

"April's growing up so quickly..." Anna said quietly.

"That happens with kids." Lorelai smiled wryly. "I still can't believe Josh is 9 already."

"I don't want her to hate me."

"She doesn't. She's just...got all this emotion bottled up. You should talk to her. Calmly." Lorelai smiled softly. "You should tell her how you really feel. Really talk to her. And listen to her as well and you never know, you might be surprised by the outcome."

Anna sighed. "She doesn't even want to look at me right now. I wouldn't even know where to start to look for her." She admitted.

"I think I might know where she is." Lorelai smiled softly.

"Where?"

"Follow me." Lorelai smiled.

* * *

Rory got home and Josh immediately turned on the tv and jumped on the couch. Rory heard noises from the kitchen so headed through to it. "April?" She called.

"Sorry to disappoint you." A familiar voice said.

"Oh hey." Rory smiled as she found Jess at the kitchen table typing on his laptop.

"Hey." Jess said.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Just doing some writing."

"For another book?" Rory asked excitedly.

"Perhaps but it's a long way yet." Jess said.

"That's so cool!" She smiled.

"Thanks." Jess said ducking his head slightly.

"So you haven't seen April?" Rory asked.

"Nope. Why? I thought you were having lunch with her?"

"Yeah, that kind of fell through. Anna showed up." She told him.

"Seriously? Wow...And I'm guessing it didn't go well?" Jess said.

"It led to April fighting with her and then running off. I was hoping she'd be here." Rory sighed.

"Sorry, she hasn't shown up." He said.

"Well I'm sure she'll turn up. She's with Freddie anyway." She said.

"I'm sure it will all sort itself out." Jess assured her.

"I hope so." She sighed. "I get why April's angry but...I remember when I was fighting with mom that one summer. I was miserable."

"Ah yes, when you stayed with your grandparents." He nodded. "And you were going out with that blonde dick." He smirked slightly.

"Jess!" Rory exclaimed but smiled slightly.

"What? He was a jerk." Jess smirked.

"Maybe some of the time but...I loved him." She admitted.

"Sorry.." He said.

"It's in the past now. Logan and I...well, I guess we weren't meant to be." Rory shrugged.

"Like you and me?" Jess said glancing at her.

Rory looked at him in surprise. "Uh...yeah...I guess so." She said hesitantly.

"It would be kind of weird now that we're sort of cousins." He smirked slightly.

Rory laughed slightly. "Kind of weird, yeah.." She laughed breaking the awkwardness. She glanced at him. "I spoke to Lane the other day. About you two?"

"She mentioned that." Jess nodded. "Said you had a good talk."

"Yeah, I think I needed it." Rory agreed.

"Good." He said. He glanced at her. "You know the last thing I wanted to do was get in between you and Lane. I know how much she means to you and how much you mean to her." He said sincerely.

"I know." She said sincerely, smiling softly at him. "I do know that." She assured him.

"Ok...good..." Jess said, his turn to look awkward.

"Can I ask you something?" Rory asked hesitantly.

"Sure." He nodded.

"Even if it might be a little awkward?"

"Shoot." He said, glancing at her.

Rory sighed. "You remember Tristan right?"

"The guy April was talking to the other day? You went to Chilton with him right?"

"Yeah. He...well, let's just say he liked annoying me and he liked annoying Dean." Rory said. She smiled slightly. "Sound familiar?" She smirked slightly.

"Possibly. It sucked that we didn't officially meet. I feel like I would have liked this guy." Jess chuckled.

"You know what, I think you would have as well." Rory laughed. "Anyway...he's sort of come back into my life. I bumped into him at the Chilton reunion..."

"And let me guess, he still likes you and wants to be with you and now you're single and ready to mingle, you're considering it?" Jess said.

"I don't know what to do..." She admitted. "He does seem...different to how he was at Chilton. I think military school was good for him. I just...how do you know if someone is worth taking a chance with?"

"You just feel it." Jess shrugged. "I felt it with Lane. I knew it was super complicated but I knew she was someone I wanted to take a chance with. And I'm glad I did." He admitted. "Sometimes you have that gut feeling..."

"You are so like Luke." Rory smiled slightly.

"What?"

"Oh nothing. Just one time at Yale, I went on this awful date. He was fine but I didn't know how to act and so I rang my mom and she had Luke over and apparently he believed that dating was all about the gut feeling. Apparently you should know the minute you meet someone that it's right." She said.

"Makes sense." He nodded.

"I felt it with Dean. I felt it with you. And I felt it with Logan. So I guess he was right..." She said.

He glanced at her. "Do you feel it with Tristan?"

"I think I do." Rory admitted. "I saw him earlier and when I saw him walking away, I suddenly asked him if he wanted to work on some articles for the Stars Hollow Gazette with me. I don't even know why."

"Well...maybe, you want to spend more time with him..." Jess suggested.

Rory glanced at him and suddenly started laughing.

"What?" Jess said confused.

"Nothing...I just...did you ever think we would be talking to each other about our different relationships and actually getting advice from each other?" Rory laughed.

Jess smirked slightly. "I guess we have come a long way."

Rory smiled softly. "I'm really glad we can be like this again." She said sincerely. "I've missed this."

Jess smiled. "Me too." He said.

"Hey, why don't you help me out with some articles for the Gazette as well?" She suddenly said.

"Seriously?" He said surprised.

"If you want to. I mean, you've written two books already. I could probably do with your help." Rory said.

"Come on, you were the editor of the Yale Daily News and you worked for the New York Times. I doubt you need my help." He chuckled. "And wouldn't it be awkward seeing as you've already asked Tristan?"

"Maybe a little but everything that happened between me and you is in the past now. And Tristan wouldn't be working with me all the time." She said. "Come on, it will be fun!" She grinned.

Jess smirked. "You say that like it's a fact."

"It is!" Rory grinned. "What do you say?"

Jess chuckled. "Alright, sure. Why not?"

"I look forward to working with you, partner." She grinned.

* * *

"She rides here?" Anna said surprised as she stood next to Lorelai watching her daughter ride around the gardens, laughing and chatting with her boyfriend.

"Every so often." Lorelai nodded. "She seems to really enjoy it."

"She used to have lessons when she was younger but she stopped after a while." Anna said.

"She's really good." Lorelai smiled watching her step daughter canter around effortlessly.

"Yeah, she is." Anna smiled softly. She glanced over at Lorelai. "Lorelai?"

"Yeah?"

"I...I'm really sorry. About...uh...about breaking you and Luke up..." She said awkwardly. She glanced at the ground. "I...I know it probably doesn't mean much now but...I really am sorry. I was scared I was going to lose April and I guess I took that out on Luke and indirectly on you."

"It's in the past now." Lorelai said quietly. She glanced at her. "Luke and I...well, we're really good now. We're happy. It worked out in the end."

"I know. I just...maybe you could have been happy earlier...If it hadn't been for me..."

"There's no point dwelling on the past. Look, I was upset about the whole situation and Luke was terrified about losing April if he didn't do as you said so he pushed me away. It did hurt." Lorelai said honestly. "But I did something quite unforgivable as well." She admitted. "But we've moved past all of that now and we're really happy. I appreciate the apology but we're good." She assured her. "Anna, I don't want to be enemies with you. To be honest, I think we are actually quite similar. I just...I want what's best for April and I know you want that as well."

"I do." Anna said quietly. She sighed. "I guess I need to talk to her. And I think I need to overcome my pride a bit..." She admitted. She glanced at Lorelai. "Do you really think she'll talk to me?"

"I'm sure she wants to sort things out with you as you do with her." Lorelai assured her. "Anyway, no more time. Here they come." She said gesturing to April and Freddie walking towards them, April looking shocked to see her mom there with Lorelai.

"Hi..." Anna said nervously as they approached them.

"Hi...?" April said confused.

"Can we talk?" Anna asked.

"Talk? Or fight?" April tensed up, crossing her arms against her chest.

"Talk." She said. "I promise, no shouting."

April uncrossed her arms but still looked unsure. She glanced at Lorelai who smiled encouragingly at her. "Give her a chance. I know you want to sort this out." Lorelai said.

April glanced back at her mom. "If you start shouting and ranting, I'm leaving." She warned.

"I won't." Anna promised.

April just nodded. "We can go for a walk if you like."

"I'd like that. Thank you." She said relieved. "I'll...uh...I'll just be one minute."

April just nodded again before disappearing off into the inn.

Anna glanced at Lorelai. "I know we haven't always seen eye to eye but...I owe you one. Thank you."

"You're a good mom. Maybe you made some bad decisions but who hasn't? I know I have." Lorelai said. "And I meant what I said. We don't have to be enemies. Remember, we have one pretty amazing thing in common."

"April." Anna smiled softly.

"April." Lorelai smiled. "Good luck." She said softly.

"Thank you. I mean it, Lorelai. Thank you for hearing me out." Anna said sincerely.

"Anytime." Lorelai assured her. "Now go speak to April."

Anna nodded and gave her one last small smile before disappearing off in the direction April had gone. Lorelai let out a big breath as she disappeared from sight. She had not expected to be having that conversation today. She just hoped for April's sake and for Luke's sake that she had managed to help change Anna's point of view a bit and she hoped that this might all get sorted out. Suddenly she felt her cell ring and she smiled as she saw the caller ID. "Hi doll..." She said softly. "I bet you can't guess who I've just had a conversation with..."

 **So I hope you liked it! :) Please keep the reviews coming! :) Your support really does mean so much to me, so thank you! :)**


	12. Chapter 11

**Thank you for your continued support! Here's the next chapter. :)**

Chapter 11

April glanced across at her mom as they walked towards the lake. "So...you wanted to talk..." She said.

"Yeah..." Anna said.

"Well...I'm listening." April said.

"I don't want us to keep fighting." Anna said. "You need to understand that it was me and you against the world for 12 years..."

"And who's choice was that?" April exclaimed.

"I know. It was my choice and I do know it was a bad choice. April, you should have known your dad ok? But you need to understand it from my point of view. When I was with your dad, he hated kids. We never even thought about kids. Not that you were a mistake because you, April, are the best thing that ever happened to me. But you didn't know your dad back then. He hated kids and then after we broke up, I found out I was pregnant. I honestly thought he would want nothing to do with me or you. I was going to tell him, honestly I was, but I kept bottling out and then you came into the world and I just felt it was too late." She sighed. "I should have told him, I know that now but I can't change the past. I can apologise until I'm blue in the face but I can't take back what I did." She said.

April glanced at her. "I kept asking you who my dad was. You could have told me any of those times but instead you had to leave me to find out the truth by myself." She said.

"I was scared." Anna admitted. "I was scared that I would lose you."

"Well you're doing a pretty good job of that at the moment." April mumbled, crossing her arms against her chest.

Anna sighed and sat down on the bridge. "Sit with me?" She said. "Please?"

April sighed but sat down next to her mom. "I just want to see dad and Lorelai, and Rory and Josh, and Jess whenever I want. I don't want to have to feel guilty for wanting to."

"I know." She said quietly. She glanced at her daughter. "I'm worried that if I let you see them whenever you want, you will never come home to visit me. I've seen you here, April. You fit. You belong here. Everyone loves you here. I just...I'm worried you'll forget about me and not come home at all."

April glanced at her mom in surprise. "That would never happen, mom." She said. She sighed. "I admit I'm angry and upset. You kept dad from me for 12 years and now you're still controlling how much I can see him. But you're my mom. You were there for me all of my life. I love you." She said glancing at the water. "I just...I miss how we were. And we're not like that anymore because of all of this. I really think you would like Lorelai if you got to know her."

"You know, I think I actually would as well." Anna smiled softly.

"What?" April said surprised.

"I had a good chat with her earlier." Anna admitted. "I guess...well, I guess we're more similar than I thought. I mean, she brought up Rory by herself."

"Only because Rory's dad couldn't be bothered to be involved in her life. Dad would never have been like that. He proved that by stepping up as soon as he found out about me." She said.

"I know." She sighed. "Look, I want to spend Christmas with me ok? And Thanksgiving. I know that might be selfish of me but I want my daughter home for those holidays. But..." She said before April could protest. "How about we split up all your other breaks? And you can come here on Boxing Day and spend New Year with your dad." She said.

"Seriously?" April asked surprised.

"Lorelai's right. The last thing I want to do is lose you completely. You're my whole world, April. I don't know what I would do if you weren't in my life anymore. If...if you seeing your dad and his family will fix all this, I guess I just have to swallow my pride and let that happen." Anna said. "I mean obviously it's going to take me some time to get used to it but if this is what you really want...I'm tired of fighting the whole time. I just want my daughter back."

"Mom..." April said softly, hugging her. "Thank you." She said sincerely.

"So...Freddie?" Anna asked.

April blushed slightly. "I hadn't told dad about him either by the way. Not until he showed up here to surprise me." She sighed. "I wanted to tell you but...I was being petty. You wouldn't admit to me that you were seeing someone so I didn't want to share with you about Freddie." She admitted.

"April..."

"Don't tell me you're not. I'm not stupid, mom. You own a shop. There aren't that many work events for you to go to." She said.

Anna sighed. "It's...early days." She admitted.

"But you are seeing someone?" April said.

"Yes..." She finally admitted. "I am." She glanced at her daughter. "Is that ok?"

"I've always wanted you to be happy, mom. Dad and Lorelai are happy. You deserve that too. Does he make you happy?" She asked.

Anna smiled softly. "Yeah. He really does."

"Then..." April said taking a deep breath. "How about I bring Freddie home during my next break and you can officially meet him and then I can meet your guy?" She suggested.

Anna smiled. "I'd like that." She said softly.

"So...are you still going to drag me home then?" April said smirking slightly.

Anna laughed. "I think I can make an exception this once. Just don't worry me sick next time ok? You want to give your dad a surprise visit, please tell me first ok? Promise me." She said.

"I promise." She said sheepishly. "I am sorry about that. I never meant to worry you. I just...really wanted to see him."

"I know. Just...don't keep it a surprise from me next time. Deal?"

"Deal." April nodded. "So...do you want to stay and have some food with us?"

"No, I better get back. But thank you. I'll...I'll see you soon?" She asked.

"I promise." April smiled. "Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." She said softly.

* * *

Rory was walking across the square when something caught her eye. She glanced over towards Gypsy's and saw Tristan with his shirt off, working on a car. She couldn't help but watch him for a moment taking in how muscled and well built he was.

"See something you like?" A voice took her out of her daze.

Rory blushed as she saw Tristan smirking at her. "Sorry...I was just..."

"No need to be sorry. I knew it was only a matter of time before you gave into temptation." He joked.

"Wow, you may have a good body but you're still the modest Chilton guy I knew." Rory smirked.

Tristan grinned. "Ah you admit I have a good body!" He said triumphantly.

Rory blushed again. "I didn't say..."

"You did. You said you may have a good body..." Tristan smirked.

"Yeah, may have. I said may." Rory pointed out.

Tristan shrugged. "Good enough for me."

"Well I don't want to distract you from work. Sorry Gypsy." Rory said seeing Gypsy appear.

"No worries. We are all human." Gypsy smirked slightly.

"And it's not me who's distracted." Tristan smirked.

"You don't give up, do you?" Rory rolled her eyes.

"Hey, it was you who was staring at me." He pointed out.

"I wasn't staring...I was...admiring the car." She said.

"Uh huh, so what car is this?" Tristan said.

"Uh...a...uh..." Rory said.

"Thought so." He smirked.

Rory smiled slightly. "Oh geez, this is going to go to your head now, isn't it?"

"Nah, I know you don't go for the body. You went out with Dean, didn't you?" He teased.

"Tristan!" Rory exclaimed.

"What, it's true!" Tristan chuckled. "That guy may have been a good first boyfriend but he was tall and lanky. He hardly had the body, did he?"

"Well he grew into it. And I made the most of it." Rory retorted.

"What?" He said surprised.

"Never mind." Rory said quickly, not wanting to dwell on that part of her life. It wasn't the proudest moment of her life. "I'll leave you to work." She said starting to walk off, feeling the blush on her cheeks.

"Hey Mary?" He called.

"Yeah?" She turned round.

"Fancy grabbing a coffee when I get off? I finish in an hour." He said. "Obviously just as friends...I know you've made that pretty clear."

Rory bit her lip slightly. "You know, I'm actually free then. Meet at Luke's?"

"Really?" Tristan said surprised that she was actually saying yes.

"Maybe I'm too distracted by you standing there with a shirt on. Just take it or I might change my mind." She said smirking slightly.

"I'll take it." He said quickly. "See you in an hour."

"See you in an hour." Rory said. She started walking off and couldn't help the smile appearing on her face. She didn't know how Tristan could do that to her. She had actually wanted to say yes. Maybe Jess was right. Maybe she did want something to happen between her and Tristan.

* * *

Anna was walking past Luke's after saying goodbye to April. She looked through the window and saw Luke working behind the counter. She took a deep breath before walking in nervously. She went up to the counter. "Hi Luke..." She said hesitantly.

Luke glanced up at her. "If you've come to fight, can it wait until I've finished here? We've got an audience." He said gruffly.

"I've not come to fight." Anna said quietly. "I..uh..I had a chat with your wife..." She said.

"I know. She called me. If you went to upset her..." Luke warned.

"I didn't. I just...Rory told me some stuff and I just...I wanted to talk to her. And it helped." Anna admitted. "You..uh..you've got a great woman there." She said.

"Of course I do." Luke said eyeing her suspiciously.

Anna sighed. "I've just had a talk with April as well. Probably something I should have done ages ago. I...I think we're ok now. I was heading home but then...well, I thought there was one other person I should see. Who I owe an even bigger apology to." She admitted. She glanced at Luke nervously. "I'm sorry." She said sincerely. "I'm sorry for not telling you about April, I'm sorry for not letting you introduce her to Lorelai and I'm...well, I'm just sorry for everything."

"Anna..." Luke sighed, surprised by the sudden change in her.

"I should have told you about April as soon as I found out. I knew where you lived, I could have easily come and told you. I just...I was scared, Luke." She admitted.

"I would have been there for you." Luke said gruffly.

"I know that now." She said honestly. She sighed. "And when April found you, I was scared I was going to lose her. And when I found out about Lorelai and how cool she was, I got jealous." She admitted. "I know it was selfish of me and you probably think I'm still being selfish but I was scared. April's my whole world and I was terrified I was going to lose her."

Luke sighed. "You're never going to lose her, Anna. You're her mom."

"I know. I know that now. But...well, I get insecure sometimes." Anna sighed.

Luke glanced at her. "Well...I guess I know what that's like. I guess that's something we actually have in common." He conceded, thinking about Chris.

"I think we have something else pretty amazing in common, don't you?" Anna gave him a small smile.

Luke had to smile at that. "Yeah. She's pretty amazing." He said softly.

"I'm sick of fighting, Luke." She admitted. "So...I told April I wanted her home for Thanksgiving and Christmas but...she can split the other breaks how she wants to. And I told her she can come here on Boxing Day and spend New Year with you."

"Are you being serious?" Luke said surprised. "Anna..."

"I've kept our daughter from you long enough. It might take some time for me but I know I have to swallow my pride. April's as much your daughter as she is mine. To be honest, sometimes I feel she is a lot more like you than me." She said smiling slightly. "But, I'm being serious. I want a truce, Luke. That is...if you'll accept my apology?"

"I accept it." He nodded. "And I appreciate it. Really. Thank you, Anna." He said sincerely.

Anna just nodded. "Well...I guess I should head off. I'll...well, I'll probably see you around sometime." She said.

"Anna?" Luke said.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." He said softly.

"Thank you for loving her as much as I do." Anna said sincerely. "Who knows, if I had plucked up courage to tell you about April 22 years ago, maybe it would have been you and me who were married now..." She said. She gave him a small smile before leaving.

Luke watched her go before picking up the diner phone. "Lorelai? Anna just came by..." He said, not able to keep the excitement from showing in his voice.

 **Sorry it's a bit shorter but I hope you liked it! :) Please let me know what you think by dropping me a review. Your continued support really does mean so much to me, so thank you! :)**


	13. Chapter 12

**Thank you for your continued support! :) Here's the next chapter.**

Chapter 12

Rory was sat in the living area of the Gilmore Mansion the following morning. She smiled softly as she looked at the portrait of her grandfather.

"Here you go. Now I can't promise it will be as good as Luke's coffee but here." Emily smiled setting down a cup of coffee infront of her.

"Thank you." Rory smiled.

"So to what do I owe this visit?" Emily said.

"I just wanted to check in on you." Rory said. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm holding." Emily gave her a small smile.

"I miss him too." She smiled sadly glancing at the portrait. "It feels so weird without him."

"Yeah. It does." Emily smiled sadly. She glanced at her granddaughter and realised she wasn't exactly herself. "Was there something else you wanted to talk to me about? You seem...distracted." She said.

Rory sighed. "I don't want to bother you with it."

"Rory, you could never bother me. Don't ever think that."

"I know. I just...you're going through a lot at the moment. You don't need to worry about me."

"Rory, what's wrong?" Emily asked softly.

"I'm...having boy troubles." She admitted.

"Oh!" She said surprised.

"Do you remember Tristan Dugray?" Rory asked hesitantly.

"Of course. You went to Chilton with him, didn't you? Your grandfather was good friends with his grandfather." Emily nodded.

"Well...he's sort of reappeared back in my life and...well, I don't know what to do. He used to annoy me so much at school. He got between me and Dean all the time. I know I probably denied it back at the time but I think Tristan always liked me like...in that way." Rory said ducking her head slightly.

"Oh.." Emily said.

"But I was too into Dean at the time that I just found him annoying. I believed his goal in life was to make my life hell." Rory admitted.

"But now?"

"He seems to have grown up a lot." Rory said.

"Yes, I heard he went to military school." Emily nodded. "I hear it changed him quite a lot. For the better."

"Yeah, it seems to have." She said, sighing. "But..."

"But?"

"He reminds me of Logan." Rory admitted.

"Ah.." Emily said understanding.

"I know Logan's married and happy now and I'm happy for him." She said.

"Wait, how did you...?"

"I saw an invitation here a while back."

"Oh Rory, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to leave that out. I can assure you I didn't go." Emily said.

"It's ok. He deserves to be happy." Rory said. "I just...I really loved him, you know? And Tristan...well, he just reminds me of him so it's...well, you know."

"Hard?" Emily guessed.

"Yeah..." She admitted.

"Rory, do you like Tristan?"

"I think I might. It's just...I don't know." She said.

"Well, what I have learnt recently is that life is too short." Emily said softly. "If you like this Dugray boy, you need to tell him. You never know, he might surprise you."

"You think so?"

"Your grandfather surprised me." Emily admitted. "He was engaged to be married when he met me, you know?"

"Ah yeah, you stole him from Pennilyn Lott." Rory smiled slightly.

"I didn't steal him. I just showed him there was another option." Emily said.

"Ok." Rory said smirking slightly.

"But honestly, your grandfather was such a noble, decent man. I never thought he would break it off, break her heart, just to be with me. But he did. And I am so gla he did. He gave me your mom, who gave me you and Josh. I wouldn't change a thing." She said softly. "I miss him more than anything."

"I'm so sorry, Grandma." Rory said blinking back some tears.

"I'm thinking about selling this house." Emily admitted.

"Really?" Rory said surprised. "Wow, that's...big."

"I just...I don't need this big house anymore and...well, it reminds me of him too much." She admitted. "Richard will be with me wherever I am. I'm not worried about that. I just...I think I need a change."

"I can get that." Rory said softly. She glanced at her Grandma. "I'm going to use Grandpa's money that he left me to pay for my master's at Yale. And once I get that, I'm going to teach at Chilton. Do you...do you think he would approve of that?"

Emily smiled tremulously. "He was and always would be so proud of you, Rory. You going back to Yale? He would have been thrilled."

"Yeah?"

"Rory..." She said softly, putting her arm round her grandfather. "Nothing you could do could never disappoint me or your grandfather. Nothing." She said.

"Not even stealing a yacht and getting community service?" Rory joked.

Emily smiled slightly. "Well...let's just say that was a moment of madness."

Rory smiled slightly. "Hey Grandma?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you." She said softly. "I needed this."

"Anytime, darling." Emily smiled.

"Grandma?"

"Yes?"

"If you're really thinking about selling the house, can you do me a favour first?"

"What?"

"Talk to mom first." Rory said.

"Your mother?" She said surprised.

"It might not seem like it sometimes but this house does mean a lot to her. I think she would really appreciate you talking to her about it first." Rory said.

Emily thought for a moment. "Ok. If that's what you want, I will talk to your mother first."

"Thank you." Rory smiled softly.

* * *

"So your talk went well then?" Freddie asked.

"Yeah..." April said.

"Ok I know that yeah. That yeah is the kind of yeah you say when you don't actually mean yeah." Freddie said.

April glanced at him. "It went well." She said.

"And that was convincing." Freddie said.

April narrowed her eyes at him. "How do you already know me so well?"

Freddie chuckled. "So what's wrong?"

April sighed. "I'm glad mom's being more reasonable. I just...I want to spend one of the big holidays here. Thanksgiving or Christmas. I just...it would be nice to spend one of them with dad."

"Can't you tell your mom that?" Freddie asked.

"I could but it took her this long to even let me see them more. This was the one thing that she said she really wanted. She said she wanted me for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I feel like if I say something, everything will go back to square one." She admitted.

"Ok." He said putting his arm round her. "Maybe you could come up with a compromise?"

"Like what?" She asked.

"Like...maybe you alternate? So one year you spend Thanksgiving with your dad here and then Christmas with our mom and then the following year you swap." He suggested.

"She would never go for that." April sighed.

"Well...I don't like talking bad of your mom, April, but to be honest it's not her decision. You're an adult now. You can make your own choices." He said.

April sighed. "Why do things always have to be so messed up with me?" She said quietly, sniffing slightly. "At school, I was the nerdy, weird girl who had no friends, then I'm the nerdy, weird girl at college with only a few friends and now...now I can't even stand up to my mom about wanting to spend Thanksgiving or Christmas with my own dad. I'm pathetic! You would be better off without me. What do you even see in me?"

"Hey.." He said softly, hugging her close and kissing her forehead. "You are not pathetic, April. And screw everyone at school and college who didn't want to be friends with you. It was your nerdiness, your quirkiness, your kindness, your sense of humour amongst several other things that made me fall in love with you." He smiled softly. "I love you, April. And I'm never going to leave you. Whatever happens, whatever you're going through, you will always have me ok? I'm always going to be here for you. No matter what."

April blinked back tears and smiled tremulously at him. "I love you too." She said softly.

Freddie smiled and leant down to give her a kiss. "Everything will be ok, I promise. And if not, I will be here fighting your corner."

"What would I do without you?" She smiled softly.

"Oh, probably be very miserable." Freddie smirked, his eyes twinkling.

April laughed and snuggled into him. "I'm glad you came." She said softly.

"I'm glad I came too." He smiled.

* * *

Rory smiled as Lane and Jess discussed music in the square together with her. It was nice to hang out with them and it was getting more and more natural to see the subtle hand squeezes and the loving looks. She was genuinely happy for them. She glanced over at the garage where Tristan was working again.

"Rory?" Lane brought her out of the daze.

"Sorry, what?" She asked.

"We need a deciding vote. Metallica or The Offspring?" Lane said.

Rory couldn't help but smile. "The Offspring suck and Metallica rules." She said.

"Yesss! Told you!" Lane grinned triumphantly.

"You two always gang up against me." Jess said shaking his head slightly. He glanced at Rory. "You ok?" He asked.

"What? Oh yeah, I'm fine." Rory said.

Jess followed her gaze to Tristan. "Why don't you just go ask him out?" He said.

"What? Don't be silly." Rory shrugged him off.

"Rory, you obviously like him." Lane said softly. "You deserve some happiness."

Rory sighed. "I just...What if it ends the same way as always?" She said.

"You can't think like that." Lane said. "If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. But you won't know unless you give it a chance." She said softly.

Rory glanced over at Tristan again. "Do you think he's worth a chance?" She asked hesitantly.

"I think he'd be stupid to mess it up." Lane said. "Right?" She nudged Jess.

Jess glanced at Rory and then at Tristan before back at Rory again. "Right. And if he does mess it up, you'll have us first in queue to go and beat him up." He said smirking slightly.

She smiled slightly. "Hey, you know that's Luke's job." She joked.

Jess chuckled. "Nah, he's still trying not to beat Freddie up." He said.

Rory laughed. "Poor April."

Jess smiled at her. "Go ask him. You deserve to be happy." He said sincerely.

Rory glanced at him and then Lane before smiling softly. "Thanks guys. Maybe I will..." She said. She took a deep breath before getting up. "Here goes nothing." She said. She started walking over to the garage where Tristan was now on his back under a car. "Hey..." She said nervously.

"Oh...hey!" Tristan said appearing from under the car.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to distract you from work..." She said.

"No worries." He said. "What's up?"

"I..uh..well..uh..I was wondering if you..uh..you know what, never mind. It's not important." She said, bottling out. "I'll..uh..I'll leave you to it. Sorry for bothering you." She said starting to walk off.

"Wait!" Tristan said jumping up. "You obviously came over for a reason."

Rory sighed. "It feels stupid now...and after me messing you around so much, you probably won't even want to so I should save myself from the humiliation."

"Won't want to what?" He asked.

"It doesn't matter." She said.

"Rory..." He said softly.

Rory glanced at him. "I need you you to know that I had a really serious relationship with someone and since then I've..uh..I've found it hard to connect with someone, to try and move on from him. I...I really loved him." She admitted.

"Ok..." Tristan said.

"But...then you show up and you're the same cocky jerk I knew from Chilton..." Rory said.

"Uh...thanks?" He said.

Rory smiled slightly. "You may still be cocky but I can see you've changed as well. You've grown up a lot and...I don't know. After Logan, I never thought I'd feel the same about anyone else again. But...here you are. And I've been trying to fight it because I don't want to get hurt again but I keep getting drawn back to you and I don't know why. And I'm sorry if you think I've been messing you around but it's been really hard for me..." She admitted. She sighed. "You probably think I'm crazy now..."

"Rory..." He said softly.

"And you would be right to think that!" Rory continued.

"Rory!" Tristan tried again.

"Because I feel crazy! And I would get it if you've given up with me already. I wouldn't blame you." She said.

"Rory!" Tristan said louder.

"What?" Rory said nervously, glancing at him.

"Would you like to go for dinner tonight? With me?" He smiled softly.

"Oh..uh.." Rory said surprised.

"Don't kill me by saying no now! Not after that speech! You'd really dent my self esteem if you do that." Tristan joked.

Rory smiled slightly. "Dinner would be nice." She said softly.

"Great. It's a date." He smiled.

"It's a date." She repeated, smiling softly. "Ok...so..."

"I finish at 6." He said.

"Ok, so see you at 6?"

"See you at 6." Tristan nodded.

"Ok, well...bye." Rory said.

"Bye." He said watching her go with a smile.

 **So I hope you liked it! :) Please keep the reviews coming as I love reading what you all think! Thanks again for all your support. It really does mean so much to me. :)**


	14. Chapter 13

**I am totally overwhelmed by your support for this story so thank you! :) Here's the next chapter.**

Chapter 13

"I'm freaking out! Why am I freaking out? I've been dressing myself since I was a child!" Rory exclaimed.

"Because it's a first date. You always get like this when you have a first date." Lane said.

"I do?" Rory said glancing at her.

"You did with Dean and with Jess. Logan too." Lane nodded.

"You were this crazy before you went out with me? Boy, I'm glad I didn't know that." Jess smirked.

"Ok, what are you doing in here again?" Rory said.

"Nothing else to do." He shrugged.

"Great." Rory said dryly.

"Just relax. Lane and I will pick something out for you. It will all be fine." April smiled, going into her wardrobe. "Ok, how about this?" She asked holding out a nice floral dress."

"Yes!" Lane exclaimed. "And you can wear this cute blue cardigan with it so you don't get too cold." She said.

"Ok, how did you do that?" Rory said.

"God given talent." April grinned.

"Ok so try it on." Lane said.

Rory glanced at Jess and raised her eyebrows. "Are you going to get out or...?" She asked.

"Hey, I've seen you change before." Jess said. He had to stifle a smirk as he saw both Lane and Rory glaring at him. "Have I made it too awkward now?"

"OUT!" They both said in unison.

Jess smirked but got up and left the room, finding Freddie in the kitchen.

"They kick you out?" He asked.

"Yup." Jess said.

"At least you got to go in the room in the first place." Freddie joked.

Jess chuckled. "Here's a tip for you, don't mention having seen your ex girlfriend undress in front of your current girlfriend." He smirked. "That gets you kicked out."

"Noted." Freddie laughed.

* * *

Lorelai was finishing things up at the inn and about to leave for home when she was surprised to see her mother walking in. "Mom!" She said.

"Hello Lorelai." Emily said.

"Uh..did we have an appointment or something?" Lorelai said confused.

"Do I need an appointment to come and see my daughter?" Emily asked raising her eyebrows.

"Well, no, of course not. I'm just...surprised. You never come and visit this late." She said.

"Well there's something I'd like to discuss with you." She said.

"Oh..ok.." Lorelai said dubiously.

"Do you have a minute?"

"Let me finish things up and then we can head back to my house together." She said.

"Ok." Emily nodded.

Soon, the two of them were in Lorelai's jeep heading back to the Crap Shack. Lorelai glanced across at her mom. "So...you wanted to discuss something with me?" She asked.

Emily glanced at her. "Maybe I should wait until you stop driving..." She said.

"What, is it that bad?" Lorelai laughed nervously. She glanced at her mother who was not saying anything. She frowned and pulled over to the side. "Seriously mom, what's wrong? You're scaring me now."

Emily sighed. "I mentioned this to Rory this morning when she came to see me for a chat. She told me I should talk to you about it first and I've been thinking about it all day and I feel like you should have a say in this decision as well." She admitted.

"Ok..." Lorelai said still not knowing what she was going on about.

"I'm thinking about selling the house." Emily admitted.

"What?" Lorelai's eyes widened.

"I've been thinking about it for a while now and that house is just too big for me. It's too...lonely. Without your father there anymore, I feel like I'm totally alone." She said quietly.

"Mom..." Lorelai said softly.

"I know it's a big decision. I know you grew up there as well so that's why I'm talking to you now. If you don't want me to sell, I won't. I just don't think I can continue living there." She admitted.

"Well...where would you go?" She asked.

"I was thinking closer to Stars Hollow." Emily said nervously glancing at her daughter. "Don't worry, I would never turn up unannounced."

"Like you did today?" Lorelai smiled slightly.

Emily smiled. "Exactly. But I needed to talk to you. Lorelai, I want to be close to you. I missed out on so much when Rory was Josh' age. I don't want to make the same mistake again." She said sincerely. "Now I know you're probably freaking out about me selling the house and even more about me moving closer to you. I just...this is something I've thought about for quite a while now. Your father will be with me wherever I am."

"Wow..." Lorelai said quietly.

Emily glanced at her. "So...what are you thinking?" She asked cautiously.

Lorelai glanced at her mother. "I...uh...I think it's pretty brave of you to do something like this. You've lived in that house since you were married. You've always been all about Hartford. But...I guess I get it." She said slowly.

"You do?" She said letting out a slightly relieved breath.

"It won't be the same without dad. I get that. Nothing will be the same without him." She said quietly. "And...it would be kind of nice to have you closer. I know Josh would love that. Rory, too."

"Really?" Emily said. "So you're saying...?"

"I'm saying, if you're really sure about this, who am I to stand in your way?" Lorelai said softly. She looked at her mother. "I don't want you to be sad in that house by yourself."

"Thank you, Lorelai." She said softly. She glanced at her. "I want to give you and Luke half the money I get from the house." She said hesitantly.

"What?" Lorelai's eyes widened again.

"And before you say anything, this is not charity. You don't need to use it on you two, I know you're too proud for that. But please, I really want you to take it. Save it for Josh and Rory. April as well. I'm not going to do anything with that sort of money and...well, I'd really like it to go to good use." She said quietly. "I know your father would have done the same thing." She said softly.

Lorelai blinked back tears. "I...don't know what to say." She said tremulously. "That...that is really generous of you. Thank you."

"So you'll take the money?" Emily asked.

"If it means that much to you, yes we'll take it." Lorelai said softly. She let out a breath and glanced at the road ahead of her. She glanced back at her mother. "Would you like to have dinner with us tonight?" She smiled softly.

Emily smiled. "That would be lovely."

"We can toast to a new beginning." Lorelai smiled softly.

"I'd like that." She said softly.

Lorelai nodded and started driving again.

"Lorelai?"

"Yeah?"

"Your father was so proud of you. I hope you know that." Emily said softly.

Lorelai blinked back tears and carefully reached over to put her hand over her mother's and gave it a quick squeeze. "Thanks mom." She said tremulously.

"So am I." Emily said giving her a tremulous smile.

* * *

Rory fiddled her fingers as she waited for Tristan to return from the toilet. He had surprised her by taking her to a nice restaurant outside of Stars Hollow. He had held out her chair for her and been the perfect gentleman and he had made her feel at ease. She just didn't know why she was still so nervous though. They had finished their meal and she was still nervous. She glanced up to see him returning and she took her hands off the table. "Hey.."

"I'm back." He smiled.

"Cool." Rory said, inwardly kicking herself for being so cringey.

Tristan chuckled. "So...I hope you liked the place and the food. I wasn't sure where you'd like to go. But I wanted to do this properly."

"This is lovely." Rory said, still kicking herself for not sounding like herself at all. She groaned slightly.

"Are you ok?" Tristan asked.

"Urghh, I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm being so weird and awkward. I...You must think I'm crazy." She groaned.

Tristan smirked. "Nah, I think it's cute." He teased.

"Tristan..." She groaned.

He laughed. "I'm teasing. It's cool, Rory. I'm just happy to finally be out on a date with you. I've waited a long time for this, trust me." He said.

Rory glanced up at him. "Why?" She asked.

"Why what?" He asked confused.

"Why have you waited so long for this? I mean, why me?" She asked. She wasn't asking to big up her ego or anything. She was just interested.

"Because...you're...different." Tristan shrugged.

"Different how?"

"You're different to all the other girls I've ever dated. You're smart, you're funny, you're...sweet. You're probably the polar opposite to me. Maybe that's why I'm so attracted to you. They do say opposites attract." Tristan smiled.

Rory glanced at him and sighed. "You must think I'm horrible for messing you around so much."

"No, not at all! I haven't exactly given you a good reason to agree to go out with me. I was a jerk to you at Chilton."

"You weren't that bad..."

"No, I really was. I was a jerk. A jerky ass." Tristan said smirking slightly.

Rory laughed slightly and could feel the tension and nervousness slowly leave her. "I guess you were a bit of a jerky ass."

Tristan chuckled. "I know everyone says they've changed all the time but...military school really did change. It made me realise what was good in life and what I really want to do with my life. I don't want to be a nobody. I don't want to be someone who just sits around and does nothing. I want to do something good with my life. Prove my parents that I can be somebody." He said honestly.

"I think that's really good, Tristan. Honestly. I always knew you could do great things." Rory smiled.

"I know you did. I owe you a lot really. Sure, military school really made me think about my life in a different way but you...you always tried to make me see I could do things. Even when I was hanging out with Duncan and Bowman and making your life hell, you were still trying to tell me I could do better. I didn't want to listen back then but...it stuck with me." He said. He glanced at her. "I want to be different. I want to be someone you respect and someone...well, someone you could finally call a friend." He admitted.

Rory smiled softly and slowly reached across and took his hand. "I always knew you were a good person, Tristan. Under that hard exterior, I knew there was a decent guy there. And you've proved that." She said. She sighed. "I'm sorry I've had to take some time. I just...I had some things to sort out in my head. People to get over and things to get my head round. But...I think I'm gradually getting there. And...well, I'm glad I'm taking the chance with you."

"Yeah?" He smiled.

"Ok, there's that cocky side again. Good to see you haven't changed completely." Rory laughed, rolling her eyes.

Tristan grinned. "Ah what fun would it be if I had changed completely?"

Rory smiled slightly. "I guess it would be pretty boring." She laughed.

"Exactly!" Tristan chuckled.

Rory smiled and glanced at him. "Thanks for bringing me here. This is nice. This is really nice." She said softly.

"I'm glad you like it." He smiled. "I..uh..I hope that maybe we can come back here again sometime? The two of us?" He said, his turn to become nervous.

Rory smiled. "I think that would be nice."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." She said softly.

"Ok let me pay and then I'll give you a lift back." He said.

"Ok. Thanks." She smiled. "Hey Tristan?"

"Yeah?"

"This really has been really nice. Thanks." Rory said sincerely.

"I'm glad. And you don't need to thank me. I should be thanking you for coming with me." Tristan said. "Let me find the waiter to pay and then we can head off. Maybe we can grab some ice cream on the way back or something?"

"Sounds good." She nodded.

* * *

"You didn't have to walk me all the way back to the door..." Rory said as Tristan walked her up the porch steps to the Crap Shack later that evening.

"That's what always happens on a first date." He said.

"Oh yeah? What normally happens on a first date then?" She teased.

"Well...the guy pays for the meal and then he walks his date back to her house. All the way so he knows she's got home safe. And then..." He said hesitantly.

"And then?" Rory said hesitantly.

"Well...if the moment's right...the guy leans in for a kiss goodbye..." Tristan said hesitantly.

"Oh yeah?" She said, fiddling with her hands in her pockets. "And...is the moment right?"

"I don't know. Is it?" He asked.

Rory smiled slightly. "I think it might be." She said softly.

"Yeah?" He smiled slightly.

"Yeah." She smiled.

"Ok. Well..." Tristan said softly, before leaning forward and gently kissing her on the lips. "Goodnight Mary." He said smirking slightly.

Rory blushed slightly. "Goodnight Tristan." She smiled softly.

Tristan smiled before starting to walk off. He turned round after a few steps and looked back at her. "Hey, you didn't cry this time. That must be a good sign right?" He joked.

Rory laughed. "Definitely a good sign."

Tristan grinned. "So...I'll call you?" He said.

"Yeah, call me." She smiled.

Tristan smiled, gave her a mock salute and started walking back to his car. Rory watched him get in the car and drive off before letting out a big breath. She opened the door and disappeared inside, not being able to help the giddy smile that had appeared on her face. Who knew she would feel like this about him? But she did and she didn't know whether to be worried or not. Was she seriously starting to fall for Tristan Dugray?

 **I hope you liked it! Please keep the reviews coming as I love reading what you all think. Your support really is so overwhelming so thank you so much! :) I really do appreciate it. :)**


	15. Chapter 14

**Honestly, I know I keep saying it but thank you so much for all your support for this story! I really do appreciate it. :) Here's the next chapter. :)**

Chapter 14

"Hey Luke! Do you know if Jess is upstairs?" Rory asked as she entered the diner.

"Should be. Haven't seen him emerge yet." Luke said.

"Great! Mind if I go up?" She asked.

"You know you're always welcome up there. You've got your own key." Luke said.

"I know. Just thought I'd check anyway. Thanks Luke!" She grinned before heading upstairs. She went into the apartment at the top and found Jess lying on the couch with a book. "Hey!" She said.

"We need to take that key off you. What if I was naked?" He smirked.

"Since when do you walk round naked in this apartment?" Rory laughed.

"It makes me feel free." Jess smirked.

"Sure." Rory rolled her eyes. "And besides, you come into our house unannounced all the time. What if I was naked?" She pointed out.

"Nah, you never walk round naked. You'd probably kill Luke with the embarrassment." Jess said.

Rory smiled slightly. "You're probably right." She conceded. "Anyway, can we stop talking about us being naked?" She said.

"Sure." He smirked, sitting up. "What's up?"

"I need you tonight." She said.

"For what?"

"You and me are babysitting Josh." Rory said.

"And why can't you babysit him yourself?" Jess said.

"Because it will be more fun if we tag team it." Rory said. "Come on, Jess! It's Luke's and mom's anniversary! They never go out these days. They should be able to at least go out and enjoy themselves for their wedding anniversary. And April's going out with Freddie tonight. Please?" She begged.

"Well, I was going to see Lane tonight..." He said. "But I guess I can put that off until tomorrow. I'm sure she'll understand."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She exclaimed, grinning. "You are my favourite cousin!"

"I'm your only cousin. Sort of." Jess smirked.

"You're still my favourite! Be at the house for 6! Bye Jess!" She grinned before giving him a wave and leaving.

* * *

"Are you sure you're ok with this?" Lorelai said as she and Luke were getting ready to go out that evening.

"Of course! You two deserve to celebrate a bit. You never get to go out. And it means I get to spend some quality time with my little bro." Rory smiled at Josh. "We're going to have fun, right Josh?"

"Yeah!" He nodded excitedly.

"And you're here for what exactly?" Luke raised his eyebrows at Jess.

"Hey, she made me come." Jess said pointing at Rory.

"He's our cook for tonight!" Rory grinned.

"Oh now the motive comes out. I thought it was because I'm your favourite cousin." Jess said.

"You are. And you happen to have taken after Luke with cooking. And you know I can't cook so it's really in both of our best interests to be here. I might poison Josh and myself otherwise." She said.

"Nice to know where I rank." He said smirking slightly.

"Play nice you too." Lorelai laughed. "Right, are you ready?" She asked Luke.

"I've been ready for an hour." He said.

"Alright, snarky! Let's go!" She grinned. "See you later! Josh, be good for your sister and Jess." She smiled giving him a kiss.

"Bye mom." Josh smiled.

"Have fun." Luke said giving them a wave before following Lorelai out.

"Ok, so what first?" Rory grinned at Josh.

* * *

"I'm so happy we're getting to spend our anniversary here." Lorelai smiled glancing round Sniffy's. "I know it was kind of short notice to book a table."

"Well, the owners seem to like me so they always have a table spare." Luke joked.

Lorelai laughed. "It is good to know the owners of somewhere like this. Especially like it's great to know the owner of my local diner." She grinned.

"Because of the coffee?" Luke smirked.

"And never ending food." She nodded. "Plus the nice view."

"So you're having a nice time?" He asked.

"Luke, this is really nice. Rory was right. We deserved this night out. I mean, I know we adore Josh and we love spending the evenings with him but it is nice to get a bit of alone time every so often." She smiled.

"Well Rory is going to be closer now and I think Jess is planning to stick around for a while so maybe we can have more nights like this?" Luke said.

Lorelai smiled. "That would be nice." She said softly. She glanced at him. "I can't believe it's been 9 years." She said. "It still feels like it was yesterday."

"It was a pretty good day." He nodded, smiling.

"Pretty good?" Lorelai raised her eyebrows.

Luke chuckled. He looked at her and smiled softly. "It was the best day of my life." He said.

"Me too." She smiled softly.

 _Lorelai stood just inside the inn, having seen Sookie, Rory and April already walk down the aisle ahead of her. She let out a huge breath._

 _"Are you ready?" A familiar voice said._

 _She turned and smiled at her father who was standing next to her. "I think so." She said. "How do I look?" She asked._

 _"Lorelai, you look beautiful." Richard said softly._

 _"Even with the changes to the dress?" Lorelai laughed slightly, rubbing her hands over her protruding stomach._

 _"You look beautiful. Radiant." Richard smiled softly. "I am so proud of you and so honoured to be your father."_

 _"Dad..." Lorelai said blinking back tears._

 _"Are you ready?" He said softly._

 _Lorelai wiped away a couple of tears and nodded. "Let's get me married." She said excitedly._

 _Richard held out his hand to her. "Shall we?" He said._

 _"Let's go." She smiled and as they made their way outside, the music they had chosen started to play and they started walking down the aisle. The moment Lorelai saw Luke, she could not take her eyes off him. About a month after they got back together and after they had done some serious talking about certain things, Luke had proposed to her and she had happily and excitedly accepted. They had agreed that they both wanted a small, intimate ceremony with close family and friends and so after another couple of months, here they were at the Dragonfly Inn, surrounded by family and all their friends from Stars Hollow, finally getting married. She felt like her heart was about to burst. She was brought out of her daze as they reached the front and Richard gave her a kiss on the cheek before going to sit next to her mother on the front row. Lorelai smiled tremulously at Rory and April who were stood with Sookie at the front as bridesmaids. She gave Jess a smile who was stood behind Luke. She then stood infront of Luke and took his hands. "I can't believe this is finally happening." She said._

 _"You look beautiful." Luke said, his voice full of emotion._

 _"You scrub up pretty well too." Lorelai smiled._

"What are you thinking about?" Luke asked bringing her out of her memory.

"I'm just thinking...how amazing the day was. I'm...I'm so glad my dad got to see it." She admitted.

Luke smiled. "He was very proud of you." He said softly.

"He always wanted to see me get married. I'm just glad he got to be there." She smiled tremulously.

"It was an amazing day." Luke said softly.

"God, those vows though...You nearly broke me with yours!" She laughed.

Luke chuckled. "I had to go after you. How do you think I felt?"

Lorelai grinned. "Sorry." She said. "Those vows took me so long to write." She admitted.

"Mine too." He admitted.

"It was a very special moment though, wasn't it?" She said softly.

"Yeah. It was." He smiled.

 _"I am told that you have both written your own vows. Lorelai, would you like to go first?" Reverend Skinner smiled kindly._

 _"Yeah." Lorelai said taking a deep breath. "Luke...you mean so much to me. I never had much luck with guys before I met you. I would go on dates and I would tell them about Rory and they would run a mile. None of them wanted to be a parent. They just wanted to have fun or they just judged me. But then I met you and you never once judged me. You found out about Rory and you were just the same old you. You were lovely and you looked out not just for me but for Rory too. I loved how you and Rory formed your own special bond so early on and how you were always so kind to her. That's what made me realise just how special you really are. You had no obligation to look out for us but you did. You would bake cakes for her birthdays, always give her a present every year, you would make her feel special, you would fix things for us in the house. You were just always there when we needed you and I appreciated our friendship so much. I think that was the reason it took us so long to get together. I had so many people telling me that you liked me and I always denied it but I think I knew deep down and I think I knew deep down that I liked you too. But I didn't want to ruin our friendship because quite honestly, I didn't know what I would do if you were suddenly not in our lives anymore." She admitted. She smiled tremulously at him. "But after several obstacles and ups and downs, we were finally able to admit it to ourselves and I just knew that it was right. I felt safe with you. I felt so loved by you. I...I finally had the whole package that I had so wanted my whole life. I was so happy." She said softly. She took a moment to regain her composure. "I know we've had to overcome a lot of stuff but I am so happy we are here today because I love you so much. I don't think I ever stopped. This, right here, is what I have always wanted. And I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you. You are it for me, Luke. You are the one and I love you so much." She smiled tremulously._

 _"Thank you, Lorelai." Reverend Skinner smiled kindly. "Luke?" He prompted._

 _Luke blinked back some tears and took a deep breath before starting to speak. "I was withdrawing myself from everyone. I was in quite a bad place. And then one day, you came barrelling into my diner begging me for coffee. I thought you were the most annoying person I had ever met." He said getting a few chuckles from everyone there. "But for some reason, after that first meeting, I found myself hoping that you would return. You brought something back into my life, Lorelai. You made me look forward to something again and I found myself looking forward to seeing both you and Rory. I was intrigued by you and I didn't know why. I respected how much of an amazing mother you were and how you were always so full of life and positive about everything. I know how hard some days were for you. That's why I always made sure the diner was open until you came in after work because I wanted to make sure you were ok and that you were eating. And then as months passed, we became really good friends and I suddenly started to feel like life was good again." He admitted. "I know we've been through a lot together but I think I knew from that first day that you were the one for me, even if I didn't want to admit it. You brought happiness back into my life again and for that, I will be so eternally grateful. I love you, Lorelai, and I promise to always be there for you as long as we live. I can't wait to expand our family and I can't wait to finally be your husband. And I vow here and now that I am all in. I'm all in. For eternity." He smiled softly, blinking back some tears._

"I knew you wouldn't get through it without blubbering." Lorelai teased.

"Hey, you were just as bad as me." Luke smirked.

Lorelai laughed. "Oh yeah, I was a mess." She nodded. She smiled softly. "It really was an amazing day."

"It really was." He smiled softly.

"I love you." She smiled.

"I love you too." He smiled.

* * *

"Hey, you're cheating! That sends you to jail!" Josh exclaimed.

"Taking a leaf out of our mom's book huh?" Rory smirked at Jess.

"Hey, your mom is way worse than me!" Jess defended before placing his monopoly playing piece in jail.

"That's true." Rory said.

"It's your turn!" Josh told Rory.

"Alright bossy!" Rory said rolling the dice. "Oh damn...I mean, oh...sugar..." She said.

"Smooth." Jess smirked. "And that will be $500, thank you." He said smugly.

"I hate that you're winning this." She grumbled handing him the money.

"Just be glad that April's not winning. She kicks our asses at this game." Jess said.

"Jess!" Rory exclaimed glancing at Josh.

"Oh come on, Rory, you know he's already learned geez and damn it from Luke." He chuckled.

"Still...we shouldn't encourage it." She said pointedly.

"Ok mom." Jess teased.

"Can we watch the tv now?" Josh asked.

"You wanted to play this game." Rory laughed.

"Yeah but it's boring now. And he cheats!" Josh pointed accusedly at Jess.

"Fine. Go turn the tv on and we'll tidy this up." Rory shook her head slightly.

"Thanks!" Josh grinned before rushing off from the kitchen to the living room.

"My plan worked." Jess smirked.

"What plan?"

"Cheating. Now we don't have to play this anymore and I can finally sit down and finish my book." He said.

"Oh so it was a master plan huh?" Rory smiled slightly.

"Pretty much." He nodded.

"Clever." She commented. "It's rubbish. But good try."

"You don't believe me?"

"You love this game really. And you love Josh. You love hanging out with him." Rory pointed out.

"Him maybe. You...well..." He smirked.

"I'm a bonus and you know it." She grinned.

"Perhaps." Jess chuckled as his cell rang. "Oh..." He said.

"What? Who is it?" She asked.

"Uh..it's...uh...Lane..." He said glancing at her.

"Oh...well, it's fine. Go talk to her and I'll tidy this up." Rory smiled.

"You sure?" Jess asked.

Rory smiled at him. "I've made you cook for us, play god knows how many board games with us and you've sat through all of it. Go talk to Lane." She said softly.

Jess gave her a small smile. "Thanks." He said. "I won't be long." He said before disappearing out the back, answering his cell.

Rory tidied up the monopoly game before getting a few bowls out and pouring some snacks into them. She smiled as Jess returned after a while. "She ok?" She asked.

"Yeah, she's good." He smiled. "Thanks again."

"Jess, you don't have to ask my permission to talk to Lane. She's your girlfriend." Rory said softly.

"I know...I just...well, you know..." He trailed off.

"I appreciate it. Really I do, but I'm good." Rory assured him. "I'm happy for you and Lane ok?"

"Ok." Jess said. "Thanks." He smiled sincerely. "So what, you going to clog his arteries with all this crap now then? And after I slaved over a lovely meal for you both." He teased.

"It's the Gilmore way." Rory grinned.

"Of course." He smirked. "Need some help?" He asked.

"Can you pop the popcorn in the microwave while I get some drinks out?" Rory said.

"Sure." He nodded. He glanced over at her while he was waiting for the popcorn. "So...how did it go with you and Tristan? Did you have a good time?" He asked.

Rory couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face. "It was fun." She said.

"Really? Because that smile on your face seems to tell me it was a little more than just fun." Jess said.

Rory smirked slightly. "We may have...kissed." She admitted.

"Wow, the guy moves fast." Jess smirked.

"It was really nice." She said.

"What, the kiss?" He teased.

Rory rolled her eyes. "The whole evening. He...really made an effort. We talked a lot. It was really nice." She smiled.

"Well...good." Jess smiled. "You deserve to be happy too." He said as the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Josh yelled.

"Thanks Jess." She said softly. "And...thanks for agreeing to doing this tonight. It's...well, it's been really nice just hanging up. I know Josh has enjoyed it."

"It's been fun." He said.

"Rory, it's some boy for you!" Josh called.

"What?" Rory said confused as she and Jess left the kitchen and headed for the door. "Tristan?" She said surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I..uh..was trying to be spontaneous..." Tristan ducked his head sheepishly. "But it seems like I've interrupted something."

"Oh..uh..we're tag teaming. We're babysitting my brother. It's my mom's and Luke's anniversary so they've gone out." She explained.

"Oh ok. Well, I guess...I guess I should be spontaneous some other time." He said.

"Doesn't that slightly ruin the fact of being spontaneous?" Rory said smirking slightly.

"I guess it would." Tristan chuckled. "It's fine though. It was a long shot."

"Why don't you join us? We're probably just going to watch a movie." She said.

"You sure?" He asked glancing at Jess briefly.

"Yeah, you came here to be spontaneous so...let's be spontaneous." Rory smiled. She glanced at Jess. "That's ok right?"

"I better put some more popcorn on." Jess said smirking slightly. "And maybe I will finally get that chance to finish my book." He said as he started walking off to the kitchen.

Rory smiled slightly as she watched him. She then glanced at Tristan. "Ready to meet some of the family?" She asked.

"Let's do it." Tristan grinned.

Rory grinned and led him through to the living room. "Josh, there's someone I'd like you to meet..." She said.

 **So I hope you liked it! :) Please keep the reviews coming. You have no idea how much they brighten my day. Your support has been so overwhelming so thank you! :)**


	16. Chapter 15

**Thank you so much for your continued support! :) I'm glad you liked the little flashbacks.**

Chapter 15

"Are you going to watch Willy Wonka with us?" Josh asked Tristan.

"Willy Wonka?" He said raising her eyebrows at Rory.

"It's our favourite." Rory grinned.

"Are you going to watch it with us?" Josh repeated.

"Sure. If that's ok with you?" Tristan smiled.

"So long as you don't talk during it. Mom and Rory always talk during it." Josh said.

Tristan chuckled. "I'll do my best."

"Then you can stay." He shrugged.

"I've been approved to stay." Tristan grinned at Rory.

"And that's a hard feat. Josh doesn't just let anyone stay." Rory smirked. "Josh, you get the movie ready and I'll go and see if Jess needs any help."

"No need." Jess said appearing with another bowl of popcorn.

"Yay! Get ready to stuff your face with junk food." Rory grinned at Tristan.

"Uh...why?"

"Because it's the Gilmore way!" She said as if it was obvious.

"Of course." He smirked.

"Oh and this is Jess by the way. He's my...uh..." Rory hesitated on how to introduce Jess.

"Ex." Jess smirked holding out his hand to Tristan.

"Oh..." Tristan said surprised.

"And he's also my cousin. Sort of." Rory said.

"And I'm dating her best friend." Jess smirked.

"It's a long story." Rory couldn't help but smile.

"I see..." Tristan smirked slightly. "So your ex is now your family? That must be weird..." He glanced at Rory.

Rory smiled over at Jess. "Maybe at first. But now..." She shrugged. "It feels pretty right."

"Ok then..." He said.

"So...shall we?" Rory said gesturing to the tv.

"Sure. Let's watch." Tristan nodded.

* * *

Luke and Lorelai walked hand in hand through Stars Hollow after their meal. "So I've arranged another little surprise for you?" Luke said.

"You know how much I love surprises!" Lorelai grinned.

"Well then I think you'll love this." Luke smirked leading her into the diner. "Take a seat and give me a minute." He said disappearing into the kitchen.

"Should I remind you that we've already had a whole meal tonight?" Lorelai called.

"When has that ever stopped you before?" Luke called.

"Good point." Lorelai said.

"Anyway this isn't a whole meal, this is just a little something." He said bringing out a plate to her.

Lorelai gasped. "You didn't?" She exclaimed.

"Thought you deserved it." He smirked.

"Chilli topped pringles? You finally made them for me?" She exclaimed grinning up excitedly at him.

"I must be crazy but...yeah." Luke said. "Got sick of your begging." He smirked.

Lorelai grinned and tucked into them. "Oh my god, they are so more amazing than I thought they were going to be!"

Luke chuckled. "Well enjoy them. Because I can assure you, this is the only time you're going to have them."

"Then I intend to savour them." She grinned. She looked up at him. "I love you."

"Me or the pringles?" He smirked.

"You." She smiled softly. "Thank you."

"You deserve the best." He shrugged.

"I have the best." Lorelai smiled softly and kissed him. "I love you, Luke Danes."

* * *

Rory glanced beside her where Josh had fallen asleep next to her. She smiled slightly and turned off the movie. "Ok you, bedtime." She said.

"Not tired." Josh mumbled with his eyes still closed.

"I think your body's telling you otherwise." Rory laughed. "Come on, I'll read you a chapter of your book."

"Carry me.." He said sleepily, holding out his arms.

Rory laughed but picked up her brother. "I'll be back." She told Jess and Tristan before carrying her little brother upstairs to his bedroom.

"I better start cleaning up." Jess said getting up and collecting the empty bowls.

"I'll give you a hand." Tristan said getting up too, collecting some plates and following him through to the kitchen. He glanced across at Jess and he started to wash up and tidy the kitchen. "So...you and Rory..." He said hesitantly.

Jess glanced at him. "Used to date? Yeah." He said.

"Wow.." Tristan said.

Jess glanced at him. "You don't have anything to worry about if that's what you're thinking." He said.

"It wasn't." He said ducking his head slightly.

"Sure it wasn't." Jess smirked slightly.

Tristan chuckled slightly. "Ok, maybe it was. A little." He admitted. "So...you're seriously dating Lane?" He asked.

"You know her?" He asked.

"Not that well. I know of her." Tristan said.

Jess nodded. "Yeah. I am."

"And Rory's ok with that?"

"It took her a bit of time but...she's happy for us." Jess said. "I knew she would be eventually. That's how amazing Rory is. She's pretty special."

"I know she is." Tristan said glancing at him. "Why else would I wait so many years for her?"

Jess glanced at him. "What happened between me and Rory may be ancient history. I'm happy with Lane. But...I still care about Rory a lot. She was one of the reasons I was able to turn my life around. If you hurt her..."

"I won't hurt her." He said.

"If you do...I'm going to defend her. She deserves happiness and if you hurt her, I won't be happy." Jess warned.

Tristan glanced at him and nodded. "Noted."

"Although...Luke would probably kill you first, then Lorelai." Jess smirked slightly.

"From what I've heard about them, I'm not surprised." Tristan chuckled.

"But I will be next in that queue."

"Noted again." He said. He glanced at Jess. "I'm not going to hurt her. I...She...She means a lot to me. I'm just happy she seems to be giving me a chance." He admitted. "You know, when I found out you were her ex, I found all this really weird. I can't even imagine hanging out with one of my exes, let alone becoming family to them. But...you seem cool. You both obviously mean a lot to each other. I just hope we can...be friends?"

"You treat her right and we'll be fine." Jess said.

"Ok. Good. Thanks." Tristan said, focusing back on the washing up.

"Good luck trying to get around Luke that easily though." Jess smirked slightly.

"I don't suppose you'll help me with that?" He smirked.

"Not a chance." Jess said.

"Thought so." He chuckled.

* * *

"Rory? Jess?" Lorelai called as she and Luke returned home.

"In here." Rory said.

"Hey!" Lorelai smiled as they went into the living room. "And hi..." She said spotting Tristan.

"Hi." He said.

"Uh...Tristan popped over to watch the movie with us..." Rory said nervously

"Oh...ok..." Lorelai said.

"How was Josh?" Luke said.

"He was fine. He zonked out about three quarters of the way through Willy Wonka. I read him a chapter of his book and he's been asleep ever since." Rory said.

"Is April back?"

"Not yet but she texted to say she was on her way." Rory said. "How was your meal?"

"Really good! And guess what? Luke made me chilli topped pringles!" Lorelai grinned.

"I knew you'd give in eventually." Jess smirked.

"I've told her it's only a one time thing." Luke said.

"Sure it is." Jess chuckled.

"Don't you have an apartment to go back to?" Luke retorted.

Jess smirked. "Nice to feel the love, Uncle Luke. See you."

"Bye Jess." Rory laughed.

"Nice meeting you." Jess nodded at Tristan.

"You too." Tristan said.

"So..uh...mom, Luke, this is Tristan." Rory said. "Tristan, this is my mom and my step dad, Luke."

"It's nice to meet you." He said. "I've heard lots about you."

"All good I hope!" Lorelai joked.

"Of course." Tristan chuckled.

"You were the boy who made Rory's life hell at Chilton, right?" Luke said gruffly.

"Luke!" Rory exclaimed.

"No, it's fine." Tristan said, glancing at Luke. "I'm not proud of who I was back then. I was a jerk. And if I can spend all my life making it up to Rory, I will." He said.

"But he doesn't need to. That's in the past." Rory said, glancing at Luke nervously. "Tristan went to military school. He said it really helped him."

"Made me grow up. And realise what was important." Tristan nodded. "So once I was finished, I went as far away from my family as possible and made something of myself. Got myself into Stanford and proved to my parents I could be something."

"I know that feeling well." Lorelai quipped.

"That life...that high society life...it's not for me. My parents wanted me to be someone I wasn't. So I rebelled against them. I'm not proud of how I was at Chilton but I thought that was the only way out. But I realised later that I didn't need to screw my life up like that. I always remembered something Rory said to me. That she thought I could do better. And I realised she was right." Tristan said.

"Nuh uh! You don't get to say you're a rebel from high society life until you get pregnant and run away from home when you're 17." Lorelai joked.

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed.

"Fair enough." Tristan chuckled. He glanced at them. "I know I've given you lots of reasons not to like me and I don't blame you. But I really like Rory. She's the reason I managed to do something with my life. And now...well, now I've found her again and she's actually giving me a chance, I don't want to mess this up again." He said honestly. He glanced at Rory. "I really don't want to mess this up." He said.

Rory smiled at him. "I know you don't." She assured him.

Tristan smiled relieved and then glanced back at Lorelai and Luke. "But...I should probably get going now. I..uh..I hope to see you again. It was nice meeting you." He said. "I'll call you?" He said to Rory.

"I'd like that." Rory smiled softly.

"Ok..well...bye then." He said.

"Bye Tristan." She said watching him leave before looking back to see her mom and Luke watching her. "What?" She said.

"Nothing." Lorelai smiled slightly. "Nothing at all."

"Ok...well, I think I might head to bed then. I'm glad you had a good night." She said.

"Thanks for babysitting. We...we really needed this." Lorelai said softly.

"No problem. Night mom, night Luke." Rory smiled, giving them a wave before heading to her room.

"Night hon." Lorelai smiled. She turned to Luke who was still standing there. "Well...are you coming up?" She asked.

"Do you trust him?" Luke said.

"Who?"

"That Tristan kid. What if he hurts Rory? He's been a jerk to her before. Should she really be getting involved with him?" Luke said. He saw Lorelai just smile at him. "What?" He said.

"Nothing." She said. "Just...I love you." She smiled softly, taking his hand. "Come on, let's head to bed."

"I'll be right up. I want to wait until April's home." He said.

"Ok. I'll see you up there then." She said. "Thanks again for tonight. It was great." She smiled softly.

Luke smiled. "Yeah it was." He said softly. "I'll see you up there."

"Ok doll. Say goodnight to April for me."

"Will do." Luke smiled before watching his wife head upstairs. He then collapsed down on the couch and waited for his daughter to get home.

* * *

Rory lay down on her bed and got out her cell. She smiled as she read a text she had received. **_I hate to admit it but I think you've got an ok one there. J x_**

Rory laughed slightly and sent a reply. **_Just ok? R x_**

 ** _He seems to really like you. He seems cool. But don't make me say that again. J x_**

Rory smirked. **_Thanks Jess. And thanks for tonight again. It was fun. :) R x_**

 ** _No problem. Night Rory. J x_**

 ** _Night Dodger. ;) R x_**

Rory smiled and was about to put her cell away when another text came through. She opened it and read it. _**Thanks for letting me be spontaneous today. It was nice to finally meet your family. :) Don't think Luke was very keen on me though. T x**_

Rory smirked. _**Luke is never keen on my boyfriends. He wasn't even keen on Jess and he's his nephew! ;) R x**_

 ** _Boyfriends? Are you finally saying I'm your boyfriend? ;) T x_**

 _ **Well, I don't make a habit of just going round kissing guys. Night Joseph. ;) R x**_

 _ **Joseph? T x**_

 _ **What, so you can give me a nickname but I can't? ;) R x**_

 _ **Fair enough. ;) Night Rory. :) T x**_

Rory smiled softly. _**Night Tristan. :) R x**_

Rory smiled giddily as she put her cell away and was about to turn the lights off when she heard April arrive and then head towards their room. "Hey! How was your evening with Freddie?" She asked.

"So good!" April said giddily. "I think...I think he might be the one." She admitted.

Rory smiled softly. "It's a nice feeling, isn't it?"

"It really is." April smiled. "How was your evening?"

"Can I tell you a secret?" She asked.

"Of course." She nodded.

"I think I might be falling for Tristan." Rory admitted.

 **So I hope you liked it! :) Please keep the reviews coming! I love reading what you all think. Thank you again for all your support! It means so much to me. :)**


	17. Chapter 16

**I'm sorry this is short but I'm going away tomorrow for Christmas and New Year so I probably won't be able to update until I get back so I wanted to get something up for you. :) Hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 16

"I can't believe the week's gone so quickly!" April pouted as she stood outside the Crap Shack next to her car with Luke, Lorelai, Jess and Rory.

"It was lovely seeing you, sweets." Lorelai smiled warmly at her giving her a hug.

"You too." April said reciprocating the hug.

"And it was nice meeting you. You be good to our girl ok?" Lorelai smiled at Freddie.

"I will." Freddie nodded. "It was nice to meet you all." He said glancing at all of them. He then smiled at April. "I'll wait in the car." He said softly.

"Ok." April said. She glanced at Rory and blinked back tears. "Urgh this is crazy! I'm going to see you again soon!" She exclaimed.

Rory laughed. "Come here, sis." She said pulling her in for a hug. "You need anything, you call ok?"

"Ok." April said, giving her a small smile. "Bye Jess." She smiled at her cousin.

"Drive safe." Jess said gruffly, nodding at her.

"You need to promise to keep me updated on the Lane situation." She said.

"The Lane situation?" Jess raised an eyebrow.

"You know, how you're doing, how it's going, that sort of thing. I want to be in the loop!" She grinned.

Jess rolled his eyes but smirked slightly. "I promise to send you a detailed email regarding my relationship every week." He said dryly.

"Thanks!" She grinned. "Can I hug you now?"

"If you have to." Jess sighed but smiled slightly as he hugged his cousin.

"Right, one more for the road!" Rory smiled giving her another hug.

"I hope it goes well with Tristan. Let me know how it goes, yeah?" April said quietly.

"I will." Rory smiled before giving her another hug and then heading back into the house with her mom and Jess to give April and Luke some space.

April glanced at her dad. "I'm going to see you more." She said.

Luke smiled softly. "I'm looking forward to it." He said.

"I'm glad I got this time with you all." She said. She glanced over at her car. "Thanks for being nice with Freddie."

"If he makes you happy, I'm happy." He said.

"And how hard was that to say?" April smirked.

Luke chuckled slightly. "I'm still getting my head round the fact you actually have a boyfriend now." He admitted. "But...he seems like a good kid."

"He is." She said softly.

"Then I really am happy for you." He said sincerely.

"Thanks, dad." April said hugging him. "I'm really going to miss you."

"Right back at ya, kid." Luke said hugging her tightly and ruffling her hair slightly. "Keep in touch ok? And if you need to talk to me or see me at all, don't hesitate ok? I'm always here for you."

"Thanks, dad." She smiled softly. "I love you."

"I love you too." He smiled softly. "Now go on, get going. Let me know when you get back."

"I will. Bye dad." April smiled.

"Bye kid." Luke smiled. He watched his daughter get into the car and watched as she drove off and disappeared from sight. He sighed slightly before slowly turning round and heading back into the house.

* * *

"Hey mom!" Rory smiled as she entered the Dragonfly Inn.

"Hey!" Lorelai smiled. "To what do I owe this visit?"

"Just wondered if you have a minute to chat." Rory said.

"Sure! Is something wrong?" She asked glancing at her.

"No, nothing wrong." She assured her. "Just...uh..." She said sitting down on one of the armchairs with her mom. "What do you think of Tristan?" She asked nervously.

"Oh..uh.." Lorelai said taken aback by her question. "Well...he seems to like you a lot..." She said.

"Yeah..." Rory said ducking her head slightly.

Lorelai glanced at her daughter. "And I have the feeling you're about to say that you're starting to really feel the same about him..." She said hesitantly.

Rory blushed slightly. "I know all I did when I was at Chilton was moan about him..."

"I do remember that." She nodded. "Rory, I won't lie and say I'm not a bit concerned. You did complain about him a lot. I wouldn't be a mom if I wasn't a little worried."

"I know." She said quietly.

"But..." Lorelai said. "I can see he was really trying to make a good impression yesterday." She admitted. "If you say he's changed, then I believe you."

Rory glanced at her. "I was really trying to fight against it so much." She admitted. "But...I don't know...I think...I think I may be starting to fall for him..."

"Aw hon..." She said softly.

"Are you going to warn me off him?" Rory asked.

"And how well has that gone in the past?" Lorelai said smirking slightly.

Rory smiled slightly, knowing she was referring to Jess. "True..." She said. "Although I guess he's the model of someone who can change."

"True." Lorelai nodded. "Look, hon, all I will say is be careful. But if you really do feel something for Tristan, maybe it's time to give him a chance. You never know, he might be your Luke." She smiled softly.

"I don't know about that but...yeah." Rory smiled softly. "Luke hates him, doesn't he?"

Lorelai laughed. "Luke hates anyone you date!"

Rory laughed. "I guess that's true. I just...his opinion means a lot to me as well."

Lorelai smiled softly. "You know what Luke's like. He's just overprotective. But I know him. He'll come round. He always does."

"Yeah..."

"And hey, you've got some pull with me." She joked.

"Thanks mom." Rory smiled.

"I just want you to be happy. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know. Thanks mom." She said softly. "I'll let you get back to work."

"Will you be home for dinner?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"Great. We can have a family night in." She smiled.

"Sounds good." Rory said.

* * *

Luke looked up as he heard the bells above the diner door chime. He was surprised to see Tristan standing there awkwardly, his hands in his pockets. He watched him glance around for a bit before finally slowly walking up to the counter.

"Hi..." Tristan said nervously.

"Hi." Luke said gruffly. When Tristan didn't say anything, he frowned. "So did you just come in here to say hi or are you going to order something?" He asked.

"Oh..uh..I'll have a burger please. And chips." He said.

"Coming right up." Luke said putting the order through to the kitchen. He glanced at him as he sat down on one of the stools. "Coffee?" He offered.

"Oh..uh..no thanks. Water's fine." Tristan said.

"Water it is." Luke said pouring him a glass. "So...you on your lunch break?" He asked not knowing why he was trying to make conversation.

"Yeah." He nodded, finally glancing up at him.

"You're not meeting up with Rory then?"

"Not today. She said she had to go see her mom." Tristan said.

"Oh yeah, she mentioned going to the inn." Luke said.

Tristan glanced at him. "I know you hate me." He finally said.

"What?" Luke said surprised.

"It's ok. If I were you, I'd probably hate me too." He shrugged. "If I ever have a daughter, I think I'd probably be exactly the same."

"Rory's not my daughter." Luke said gruffly.

"Maybe not but your opinion means a lot to her, I know that much. And if you hate me, I don't have a chance in hell with her." He said hesitantly, glancing up at him. He took a deep breath. "I get why you're suspicious of me. I was a jerk to Rory before. I'm not denying that. I could have handled things so much better. But then...I guess if I had, I may still be that same arrogant jerk I was when I was younger." He said. "I think I needed the wake up call of military school to knock some sense into me." He glanced up at Luke again and sighed. "I have changed. I know you probably don't believe it and I know I will need to prove it to you but I have. I really like Rory and I really want things to work between us. I think...I think we could have something special." He admitted.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Luke said confused.

"Because I need you to know that I would do anything for Rory. She's not just a bit of fun for me. I know my reputation before wasn't great but I'm not like that now. Rory...she's special. I have her to partly thank for me turning my life around." Tristan said honestly. He then sighed again. "But as I said before, I don't have a chance in hell with her if you hate me. So..uh..I guess that's why I'm here now. Trying to...uh...prove myself, I guess." He shrugged. "And probably making a complete show of myself..."

Luke glanced at him. "I don't hate you." He said.

"You don't?" Tristan said surprised.

"I don't particularly like you. But I don't hate you." Luke said. He sighed. "Look, I don't really know you that well. I know Rory normally makes good choices but I can't help being protective. She may not be my biological daughter but I look at her like she's my own." He admitted.

"I wish I had someone looking out for me like Rory has in you and Lorelai." Tristan gave him a small smile. He sighed. "Sorry, I know you're working. I just...wanted to say my piece. Plead my case more like. I want you to know that I respect both you and Lorelai and I won't do anything to hurt Rory."

"Ok." Luke said after a moment.

"Ok?" Tristan said surprised.

"Well, what do you want me to say?" He said.

Tristan smirked slightly. "I guess ok is good enough for now."

"For now?" Luke raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah. I vow to prove to you that I'm good enough for Rory and that you don't have anything to worry about. Like I said, if you hate me, I'm pretty sure Rory will change her mind in giving me a chance. I know it would mean a lot to her if you approved." Tristan said.

"So you're using her as emotional blackmail now?" Luke said gruffly.

"What? No! No, that's not what I meant!" Tristan exclaimed, his eyes widening, but he stopped when he saw Luke smirk slightly. "Ok, you got me." He chuckled slightly.

Luke smirked. "Got to keep you on your toes. How else can I have some fun?"

Tristan chuckled. "Fair enough. I guess I deserved that."

"I'll go get your food." Luke said disappearing off to the kitchen.

Tristan blinked slightly and glanced at Lane who turned round from filling the coffee jugs. "Ok, so...is that the conversation over or...?" He said confused.

"Hey, he didn't kick you out. That's good for Luke." Lane teased.

Tristan chuckled. "I guess you're right."

"Luke's a tough one to crack but...I reckon you'll get there." She said.

"You think?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "You coming here today will help. He will respect you coming to talk to him."

"Ok. Good." Tristan said letting out of a breath. "I didn't tell Rory I was going to do this..." He admitted.

"Well I'm sure she will appreciate you trying to make an effort with her family. She's all about family." Lane smiled.

"I know." Tristan smiled. "I just...I don't want to mess things up." He admitted. "You're her best friend, right? Do you think I might have a shot with her?"

"Well...going by how giddy she was after your first date, I'd say there was a very good chance."

"Really?" He said.

"Just stop trying so hard. I know you want it to work and you want to prove you're not the person you were before but you need to stop overthinking things. Just be you. Rory likes you. I know that for sure. But you need to stop overthinking things or else it might start annoying her." Lane advised. "She believes that you've changed. She's told me that. So just be you." She smiled encouragingly.

"Ok." Tristan said. He gave her a small smile. "Thanks."

"Incoming." Lane said.

Tristan looked up to see Luke reappear and place his burger and chips infront of him. "Thanks." He said.

"You hurt her and I'll come after you." Luke said gruffly.

"I don't doubt that." Tristan said.

Luke nodded. "Enjoy your food." He said before walking off to serve other customers.

* * *

"Oooh my favourite!" Rory grinned as she found Luke making lasagne in the kitchen.

"Thought I'd treat you." Luke smirked.

"Do you need any help?" She asked.

"You're really offering to help?" Luke raised his eyebrows.

"I'm more help than mom." She shrugged.

"That's true." He chuckled. "Put some foil over that garlic bread and then can you put it in the cooker?" He asked.

"Sure!" Rory smiled going to do as she was told.

"So..uh..your boyfriend paid me a visit today..." He said casually.

"Who, Tristan?" She said surprised.

"Do you have more than one boyfriend?" He chuckled.

Rory blushed slightly. "No, I was just surprised." She said. She glanced at him. "Is he still walking?" She smirked.

Luke ducked his head but smirked slightly. "He's very much alive, yes."

"So...what did he want?" She asked intrigued.

"Well...apparently, he's got the idea that I don't particularly like him..." He said.

"No! Why would he think that?" Rory exclaimed in mock astonishment, grinning.

"Yeah, yeah, alright." Luke rolled his eyes.

"I'm only teasing. Have I told you how I love that you're so protective? It's nice to know I've got you fighting my corner." She smiled sincerely.

"I will always fight your corner." He said seriously.

"I know." Rory said softly. She glanced at him. "So...?"

"We just had a talk, that's all. He wanted me to know that he had changed from who he was before and he wanted me to know that he really liked you." Luke said glancing at her.

Rory blushed slightly. "Oh." She said.

"I told him if he hurt you, I would come after him." Luke said.

"You didn't!" She exclaimed.

"Hey, I've got a reputation to hold up. I need him to still be slightly scared of me." He smirked slightly.

Rory couldn't help but smile. "But you two are good?" She asked after a moment.

"I wouldn't say we're best friends but I could see he cares about you. I respect him for coming to talk to me." He said.

Rory smiled. "I can't believe he did that." She said softly.

Luke glanced at her. "It was a brave thing to do." He conceded. "But I stand by what I said before. He hurts you and I will come after him."

"And that, Luke, is why I'm so happy mom married you." Rory smiled softly, going forward and giving him a hug. "I can live with you not being best friends. Just so long as I can bring him in the house." She teased.

Luke smirked. "That I can deal with." He said. "Now how about we get this lasagne cooked before your mom kills us for chatting instead of making her food?" He joked.

Rory grinned. "Good idea!" She said. She glanced over at him. "Hey Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." She smiled softly.

 **So I hope you liked it! :) Please let me know what you think as I love reading your reviews! :) Thanks so much for all your support. It really does mean so much to me! :)**


	18. Chapter 17

**Hey again! :) I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. I actually have some spare time before I go away for New Year so I thought I'd give you all a chapter. I hope you're all still with me. :) Hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 17

"So a little birdie told me that you visited the diner this week..." Rory said as she and Tristan walked down the street.

"He told you?" Tristan said surprised.

"Possibly." Rory said.

Tristan glanced at her. "Are you mad?" He asked hesitantly.

"Mad? Why would I be mad?" She said confused.

"I don't know if I was overstepping the mark or something." He admitted.

"By making an effort with my family?" Rory said still confused.

"I don't know. I just...maybe I am overthinking things." Tristan said.

"Tristan, I was really touched that you went to talk to Luke and you made an effort with him. He was impressed as well." She said softly.

"He was?" He asked.

"Well, he said you weren't best friends or anything and that he still has a reputation to maintain but he did seem impressed." Rory smirked.

Tristan chuckled. "Fair enough." He said.

Rory glanced at him. "Why did you think I would be mad?" She asked.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Maybe I am overthinking things. Lane said that. I just don't want to mess things up with you."

"You spoke to Lane as well?"

"Well she was there at the diner when I spoke to Luke." He explained. "She told me I should stop overthinking things and stop trying too hard to prove that I've changed. She told me to just be myself."

Rory smiled softly. "Sounds like good advice."

"Yeah.." Tristan said. "I think I have been trying too hard. I'm sorry if that's been annoying."

Rory smiled. "Nah. I think it's sweet." She assured him. "But Lane's right. Just be yourself. I know you've changed, Tristan. Do you think I would have given you a chance if you hadn't?"

"I guess not." He conceded.

"I believe you don't want to mess this up. I don't either. But we need to relax a bit or else we'll both be overthinking things and that just won't help things at all." She said.

"Yeah, you're right." Tristan said. He took hold of her hand. "From now on, I will stop trying so hard and enjoy the fact that I'm going out with Rory Gilmore." He smiled.

Rory laughed. "Good." She said before stopping as they bumped into someone coming out of Doose's. "Dean..." She said surprised. She glanced at Tristan before giving him a quick hug.

"Hi..." He said just as surprised to be bumping into her, reciprocating her hug. He glanced at Tristan in shock and then back at her. "Uh..how are you?"

"I'm good." She nodded. "You?"

"Yeah..uh..good. Uh..Jenny's pregnant again." He said smiling slightly.

"You're kidding! Dean, that's great!" Rory exclaimed.

"Thanks. It's going to be loud." He chuckled. Dean glanced at Tristan. "So you two..." He said hesitantly.

Rory glanced down at her hand in Tristan's and then back at Dean. "It's..uh..early days." She said awkwardly.

"Right.." Dean said just as awkwardly.

Rory glanced at Tristan and back at Dean not really knowing what to say.

"Congratulations on your kid." Tristan said helping her out but also surprising them both.

"Oh..uh..thanks." Dean said.

Tristan glanced at Rory and then back at Dean. "Look..uh..I was a jerk to you back...well, you know when, and I'm sorry for that. I know you meant a lot to Rory and...well...I was a jerk to get between you."

Dean just nodded. "Well...thanks." He said gruffly.

"Rory's given me a second chance. I don't know why but she has and I do know that I don't want to mess this up." Tristan said.

Dean glanced at Rory who ducked her head slightly and then back at Tristan and sighed. "Well make sure you don't or else I'll be after you." He said.

Tristan chuckled slightly. "Join the queue."

Dean smirked slightly. He glanced at them both. "Well...I should get going. It was good to see you." He smiled at Rory.

"You too." Rory smiled.

Dean looked at Tristan and held out his hand. "You look after her yeah?"

"I will." He nodded, shaking his hand. "Good luck with the baby."

"Thanks." Dean said. "See you." He said.

"Bye Dean." Rory smiled softly, watching him walk off. She then let out a breath. "I guess bumping into him was always going to be inevitable."

"I guess so." Tristan said.

Rory glanced at him and smiled softly. "Thanks." She said.

"For what?"

"For not being a jerk." She said smirking slightly.

"Wow, your faith in me is flattering." Tristan teased.

Rory ducked her head sheepishly. "Sorry."

"It's ok." He chuckled. He shrugged. "It was a long time ago and I was a jerk to him. He deserved an apology." He said.

Rory smiled. "Well I think he appreciated it." She said. "And I did." She smiled softly.

Tristan smiled at her. "So he's married?" He asked.

"Five years now." She nodded. "And they have four kids. He's really happy."

"Well...good for him." Tristan said.

"Yeah." Rory smiled.

"So...you hungry?" He asked.

"Always!" She grinned.

"Let's get some food." He grinned.

"Great minds!" She grinned and they headed into Luke's.

* * *

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Everyone shouted as Lorelai walked into the kitchen the following morning.

"Wow! Thank you!" Lorelai laughed.

"I made you a card!" Josh exclaimed running towards his mom and handing it to her.

"Aw, thank you!" She smiled, opening it. "Aw, I love it, thank you!" She said hugging her son.

"I made you a card too but I feel like mine stopped being the best about 9 years ago." Rory teased.

"And you said you never would suffer both sibling jealousy." Lorelai teased, giving her a hug. "I love your card too."

"Thanks." Rory grinned. "For that, I think I will go ahead with your surprise party." She teased.

"Yess!" Lorelai thrust a fist up in the air. "Ooh coffee cake! Marry me?" She grinned at Luke.

"Actually Jess made it this year." Luke said.

"Ok, well no offence but it would just be weird to marry you." Lorelai joked grinning at Jess.

"None taken." Jess smirked. "Here. I have to get to the diner but I'll see you later." He said handing her a card.

"Thanks." She smiled. "See you later."

"Coffee?" Luke said offering her a cup.

"Thanks!" She grinned. "This looks great." She smiled looking at the spread on the table, a full cooked breakfast and a coffee cake.

"Only the best for you." Luke smiled. "Happy birthday." He said softly.

"Thank you." She smiled softly.

"Now tuck in." He chuckled.

"Thanks!" She grinned, immediately grabbing a plate of food.

* * *

"This is great." Lorelai smiled softly as she took a break from dancing and sat down next to her daughter.

"I'm glad you're enjoying it." Rory smiled.

"How did you pull this off? It must have taken ages." Lorelai said looking round at the fully decorated studio of Miss Patty.

"Well I didn't actually have to do much this time." Rory admitted. "This was all Luke."

"What?" She said surprised.

"He said he wanted to do it right. He said...well, I think he knew that you would be sad that Grandpa couldn't be here so he wanted to make it the best he could." Rory smiled softly.

"That's...so sweet." Lorelai smiled, blinking back some tears, glancing over to where Luke was with Josh. "He really organised all of this?"

"He insisted. I offered to help but he wanted to do it this year. It seemed to mean a lot to him so I let him." Rory said.

"Well, I love it." Lorelai said. "And I really did love your card, thank you hon." She smiled softly.

"You're welcome."

"Hey, your Grandma's here." She said.

"Oh yeah, we invited her." Rory nodded.

Lorelai smiled. "I'm glad she came. Oh and look who's turned up as well." She said gesturing towards the door where Tristan had entered.

"He said he'd try and make it." Rory smiled.

"Things seem to be going well between you two..." She said.

Rory ducked her head slightly. "Yeah, they are." She admitted.

"I'm glad. I'm glad you're happy." Lorelai smiled softly.

Rory smiled. "You know what, right now? I really am."

Lorelai smiled and hugged her daughter. "I'm going to go talk to mom. Go spend some time with Tristan. I'll let you know when we're ready to head home."

"Ok. Say hi to Grandma from me."

"I will." She smiled. She smiled as she watched her daughter walk towards Tristan. She watched as they shared a joke together before she caught Tristan's eye and waved back when he waved at her. She smiled as they headed off towards the food so she started heading towards her mother. "Hi mom." She smiled.

"Lorelai." Emily said.

"I'm so glad you could make it." She said.

"You are?"

"Of course. It's my birthday, mom. I always want you here. The parties here do go down in history." Lorelai joked.

Emily smiled slightly. "I can see why." She said. "Do you mind if I grab you for a moment? Can we talk just outside?"

"Sure." Lorelai said heading out onto the porch with her mother. "What's up?"

"Well...firstly, happy birthday Lorelai." Emily said handing her a card and a present.

"Thanks mom." She smiled softly.

"Now..uh..maybe we can sit down for the next thing?" She said nervously.

"Uh...sure. Are you ok to sit on the steps?" Lorelai asked.

"That's fine." She nodded sitting down next to her daughter. "So...this is for you." She said taking an envelope out of her bag. "It's..uh...it's from your father..."

"What?" Lorelai said, her breath hitching.

"He gave it to me before...before he left us. He knew he wasn't going to make it to your birthday but he wanted to give you something. Now, I was nervous about giving it to you because I didn't want to upset you on your birthday but your father was very insistent." Emily said.

"He always was." Lorelai smiled tremulously. She glanced at her mom. "Do you know what it says?"

"Not a clue." She shook her head.

Lorelai took a deep breath and opened the envelope. Inside, she found a handwritten letter. Her eyes welled up in tears at the familiar scrawl of her father's handwriting. Her breath hitched again as she began to read it.

 _Dearest Lorelai,_

 _I am so sorry I couldn't be there to celebrate your birthday with you this year but I'm sure the family is spoiling you rotten. I just wanted you to know that I'm so proud of you, Lorelai. Everything you have accomplished in your life, raising Rory to running your own inn, I am so proud of you. I know I was never one to talk about my emotions. Neither of us were very good at that but I take the blame. I'm writing this now because I know my end is near and I don't want it to come suddenly and you never know how I really feel. I love you, Lorelai._

 _Now, enough with the sombreness, it's your birthday after all. I really hope you enjoy your day and I hope my present to you means something to you. I doubt you remember the day but that day was special to me._

 _Happy Birthday, Lorelai! Please don't be sad as this is meant to be a happy day. Enjoy your day!_

 _Love you forever,_

 _Dad_

 _x_

Lorelai wiped away tears that was falling down her face as she glanced at her mom. "Thank you for giving this to me." She said tremulously.

"I was also under strict instructions as to what to buy you on his behalf. It doesn't mean much to me but maybe it will to you." Emily said taking a few more items out of her bag. "Why I had to get you a pretzel with mustard on, I never know but he was insistent that I get it from a specific place." She said.

Lorelai gasped as she looked down at the pretzel. "Oh my god..." She said. She then opened the other items and found two dvds. Grease and An Unmarried Woman. "He remembered..." She said blinking back more tears.

"Remembered what?" Emily asked intrigued.

Lorelai glanced at her mom. "I was 13." She said tearfully. "It was my birthday. And Royston Sinclair had broken my heart in front of everyone. I'd snuck into your closet that morning and took that green beaded top that was your mother's, that you kept so carefully wrapped up in tissue paper in your cedar closet. I was never supposed to touch it. But I stole it and I wore it to school with my Chemin de Fer sailor jeans and I thought no one was as stylish as I was. But Royston laughed. He said I was cheap. He said the only reason he'd been my boyfriend was because he was mad at Angie Morgan and he wasn't anymore. He called me loud and weird. He said there was a rumour going around that I wasn't actually a Gilmore. That I was the gardener's daughter and you'd bought me because you couldn't have children of your own." She sniffed.

"Lorelai..." Emily said stunned.

"And I was crushed. And I ran out of class and I ran out of school and I went to the mall. And I was sitting in the food court, wishing I had some money to buy a pretzel because I was starving, and suddenly I looked up and there was Dad. Standing in front of me at the mall. He never came to the mall. That day, he went to the mall. And he was furious. He kept asking why I wasn't in school and I tried to think of something, some lie that would make sense, but I couldn't. All I could think was that yesterday I had a boyfriend who loved me and today I didn't." She said her voice cracking. "And I started to cry. I just sat there like an idiot, bawling. And finally after what seemed like forever, I managed to control myself a little bit and I calmed down. And I waited. I waited for him to yell at me, to punish me, to ground me forever, to tell me how disappointed he was in me. And nothing came. And finally, I got up enough courage to look up at him and he was standing there with a pretzel. A giant pretzel covered with mustard." She said looking down at the pretzel infront of her. "The exact same pretzel as this." She told her mom. "And he handed it to me and he...he took me to the movies. We saw Grease and An Unmarried Woman." She smiled tremulously looking down at the dvds. "Something for me and something for him, he said. He bought me popcorn and Red Hots and we sat in the dark and we watched. And then he took me home and he gave me his sweater to cover up the stolen top and he told you that he'd picked me up from school and taken me to the club for a soda. And that was it. We never discussed it again." She said. She looked at her mom with tears in her eyes. "It was the best birthday I ever had. We never spoke about it again. I...I didn't know if he even remembered it but..." She said looking down at the items.

"It obviously meant something to him as well." Emily smiled tremulously. "Your father never told me about that day..."

"I guess he didn't want to embarrass me. I felt so humiliated. I guess he just felt like I wouldn't want to be reminded of it. But...that was the first time I spent proper time with him doing normal things. And...it was best day of my life." Lorelai admitted. "He remembered, mom. After all these years, that day meant as much to him as it did to me..." She sniffed.

"Lorelai?" A familiar voice said. "Is everything ok?"

Lorelai looked up to see Luke standing there glancing between them warily. She wiped her tears away. "Everything's good."

"You sure?" He asked.

Lorelai smiled tremulously. "Mom brought a bit of dad with her today. We've just been reminiscing, that's all." She assured him. She looked at her mom. "Thank you." She said sincerely. "Thank you so much for doing this for me. And for giving me this." She said gesturing to the letter. "Just...thank you."

Emily smiled tremulously. "I didn't want to upset you." She said.

"No, you haven't. I'm so grateful you gave me these. Really. It...it feels like dad's really here today." Lorelai said. She leaned over and took Emily by surprise by hugging her. "Thank you, mom."

"Well...you're welcome." Emily said trying to keep her emotions at bay.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but everyone's starting to head off. I was coming to see if you were ready." Luke said.

"Yeah, I am." Lorelai said, smiling as she saw Josh and Rory appear behind Luke. She turned to her mother. "Do you want to stay over tonight?" She asked.

"What?" Emily said surprised.

"I know slumber parties aren't really your thing but we always stay up and watch movies on my birthday until late and eat as much junk food as we can. What do you think?" Lorelai said.

"Well...I don't know..." She said hesitantly.

"What about you guys? Do you want your Grandma to join us?" Lorelai smiled at Josh and Rory.

"Yes! Grandma, stay over, please!" Josh said excitedly.

"You should stay over. And you can bunk with me. We can be teenagers again and talk all night." Rory joked.

"See, now how can you say no to those pretty faces?" Lorelai joked.

Emily smiled slightly. "Well...if you're sure I won't be imposing..."

"Of course not." Lorelai said firmly. "I'd really like you to come." She said softly. "Please?"

Emily smiled. "Ok then." She said softly. "But I will not be eating all that junk you all eat." She warned.

"I would expect nothing else from you." Lorelai grinned. "Right, well, let me say goodbye to everyone and then we can head off. You two keep your Grandma company out here and Luke and I will be right back."

"Ok." Rory smiled.

Lorelai then headed back inside with Luke. "Thanks for this party. Rory told me it was all you. I loved it." She said softly.

"I just wanted it to be special. After the year you've had, I wanted to treat you." Luke said. "Are you sure you're ok?" He asked softly.

"I'm ok. Just...emotional. Talking about memories...well, you know how that can be." She said.

"Yeah." He said softly. "But you're ok?"

Lorelai smiled softly. "I'm perfect. And I love you."

"I love you too, birthday girl." Luke smiled giving her a kiss. "I'll go let Jess know we're leaving and we'll meet you outside?"

"Sounds good." Lorelai said. "Hey Luke?"

"Yeah?"

Lorelai went forward and kissed him again. "I really do love you. Thank you for today." She said softly.

"I'm glad you had fun." He smiled. "Happy Birthday, Lorelai." He said.

"Thanks." She smiled and she watched him head off to find Jess. She wiped the rest of the tears away and looked round the room at all her friends who turned up to celebrate with her. She was so lucky to have them all. She glanced towards the door and saw Rory and Josh talking and laughing with her mother and she smiled softly. Today really had been the best day.

 **So I hope you liked it! :) I hope you're all still with me. Please let me know what you think if you still are by leaving me a review! I really do love reading them and I really appreciate all your support. :) Thank you!**


	19. Chapter 18

**Happy New Year everyone! :) Here's a little chapter to start the new year. This one is quite Emily centric so I hope you like it. :) Thank you for your continued support. :)**

Chapter 18

Emily suddenly woke up as she heard the credits rolled down the screen as the movie finished. She turned when she heard Lorelai start speaking.

"Right, it's midnight, which means it's bedtime!" Lorelai announced. "Come on you, up to bed." She smiled at Josh.

"Aw but I'm not tired!" Josh protested.

"Maybe not but your grandma is." Lorelai said grinning over at Emily.

"I only dozed off for a minute." Emily said.

"More like the second half of the film." Lorelai laughed.

Emily smiled slightly. "Well, I guess the day has caught up with me. I don't normally stay up this late."

"Which is even more reason to get to bed. Come on trouble." Lorelai smiled at Josh.

"Yeah, I'm tired too." Rory said yawning. "Come on, Josh. Do you want to read another chapter of your book?" She said.

"Yeah! Can we? Can we?" Josh said excitedly.

"I don't know...How quick can you get your pyjamas on and brush your teeth?" Rory said.

"Super quick!" He grinned.

"Go on then!" Rory laughed. "I'll meet you in your room."

Emily watched as Rory chased Josh up the stairs. She then started watching her daughter and Luke. She noticed Luke go and check the front door and the windows before taking all the dirty bowls and plates into the kitchen.

"Are you staying over, Jess?" Lorelai asked.

"Sure. If that's ok?" Jess said.

"Of course. Is the couch ok though?" She asked.

"Couch is fine." He nodded.

Emily watched as her daughter got sheets and blankets out of the closet in the hallway and brought them over to the couch for Jess. Rory then reappeared after a few moments.

"That was quick!" Lorelai said.

"He fell asleep after the first sentence. So much for not being tired!" Rory grinned.

"Aw well thanks hon!" She laughed. "I'm going to go up and kiss him goodnight. Mom, are you ok?" She asked.

Emily came out of her daze. "Sorry, what?"

"Have you got everything you need? Or is there anything I can get you?" Lorelai asked.

"I'm fine. Thank you, Lorelai." She smiled.

"Ok great! Well, night then!" Lorelai smiled.

"Goodnight Lorelai." Emily smiled. She watched her daughter head upstairs. She glanced at Jess who was making up the couch for himself. "Goodnight." She said.

"Night." Jess nodded.

Emily then wandered down the hallway and peeked into the kitchen where she found Rory helping Luke with the washing up. She watched how they obviously had a routine, Luke washing and Rory drying up, like they had done this their entire life. They looked so natural doing it, laughing together.

"So how long did it take Josh this time?" Luke said.

"The first sentence." Rory grinned.

"Wow, a new record!" Luke chuckled. He glanced across at her. "You know he loves you reading to him before bed right? He looks forward to it." He said.

"So do I." She smiled. "It's nice being back and being able to do that again."

"It's good to have you back." Luke smiled at her.

Rory smiled back at him. "Ok, last one done." She said putting the last plate back in the cupboard. "And now time to sleep." She said. "Night Luke." She smiled giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Night Rory." Luke smiled softly. "And thanks for helping today. Your mom loved it."

"Hey, it was all you this year." Rory smiled softly. "Thanks for making mom happy." She smiled. "Night!"

"Night." Luke smiled.

* * *

Emily watched as Rory made up the trundle bed as she got settled into Rory's bed. "I wouldn't mind taking the trundle bed, you know." She said.

"Oh no, it's fine!" Rory said. "I don't mind. To be honest, I could probably sleep anywhere tonight."

"It has been a long day." Emily smiled.

"Yeah it has." Rory said. "But it was worth it. Mom loved it."

"I'm glad she had a fun day. She deserved it." Emily said.

"Yeah, she did." Rory smiled softly, finishing off making the bed.

Emily watched as Rory then got into the bed. "So you all seem to have a pretty good routine here." She said.

"I guess we do." She said.

"It's nice to see. You and Luke. You're close, aren't you?" She asked.

"We've always been close." Rory said.

"I know that now. I mean I didn't always want to see it but...he's always been there for you, hasn't he?" Emily smiled softly.

Rory smiled. "Yeah he has."

"Does Jess stay here a lot?" Emily asked interested.

"Sometimes, when he can't be bothered to walk back to the diner apartment." Rory nodded.

"That's not...weird for you?" She asked.

"What?" Rory said confused.

"Well...he is your ex..." She said cautiously.

"From a long time ago." She said.

"So it doesn't bother you?" Emily asked.

"Jess and I will always care about each other but that's all in the past. Besides he's dating Lane now and I'm with Tristan. We're good." Rory smiled.

"Well as long as you're ok." Emily said.

"I'm good, Grandma. Jess and I are good. We're family now anyway." Rory smiled.

"And you're with Tristan now right?" She asked.

"Yeah." Rory said.

"So things are going well then? Between the two of you?" Emily asked.

"Grandma..." She said blushing slightly.

"I'm not prying...I'm just interested." She said.

Rory smiled softly. "Things are good. It's just early days yet."

"Then I won't ask anymore." Emily smiled. "We better get to sleep."

"Yeah." Rory said yawning. "Night Grandma."

"Goodnight Rory." She smiled before the two of them settled down to sleep.

* * *

Emily woke up early the next morning. She glanced over and saw Rory was still asleep. She heard voices in the kitchen so she quietly got up and slowly opened the door. She saw Jess and Josh in there. Jess was cooking some pancakes and Josh was sat at the table.

"Can I have nutella on them?" Josh asked.

"Your dad would have a heart attack if he knew." Jess said.

"Please? You'll be my favourite cousin!" Josh pleaded.

"What and edge out April?" Jess smirked slightly.

"You'll be top, I promise!" Josh nodded earnestly.

Jess chuckled. "Nah you can still have April as your favourite, don't worry. Just don't tell your dad or he will kill me." He smirked as he placed a pancake in front of him and the nutella bottle."

"Can I eat it in front of the tv?" Josh grinned.

"Do I look like a doormat?" Jess raised his eyebrows.

"Please?" Josh said giving him the signature Gilmore pout.

"I can't believe they taught you that." He grumbled. "Ok, go on. Just don't spill anything." He said. He shook his head as Josh went bounding out of the kitchen but smirked slightly. He then went back to the stove to make some more pancakes.

"You know, I used to think you were a good for nothing, waste of space, hoodlum." Emily said finally coming out of Rory's room.

Jess looked up at her. "Good morning to you too." He smirked.

Emily smiled slightly. "You're very good with him." She noted sitting down at the table.

"I doubt Luke would think so when he finds out I let him have nutella on his pancakes and eat them watching the tv." Jess said.

"Maybe not." She smirked. "But I saw you with him at Lorelai's party yesterday. You're good with him." She said.

"Well...thank you?" Jess said not really knowing what to say.

"I used to think you were a hoodlum but you've really grown up since that day you came to my home with a black eye." She said.

"That's thanks to Rory and Luke." Jess shrugged. "They made me want to be better. Not sure how well I've done but at least I'm not in prison." He smirked slightly.

"You know Richard thought very highly of your recent book." Emily said.

Jess glanced at her. "Well that means a lot to me. His opinion meant a lot." He said.

"Richard's very hard to impress but you did." She said. "I...I misjudged you. I tend to do that a lot."

Jess shrugged. "It's alright. I tend to be a lot like that as well. Hey, I bet you never thought we'd have anything in common." He smirked.

Emily smiled slightly. "No, I don't say I would have." She said. "So...you're making pancakes?"

"Yep. Want one?" He asked.

"Are you as good as Luke at making them?" She questioned.

"Better." Jess said.

Emily smiled slightly. "Well then I will have a couple. Thank you."

"Coming right up." Jess said.

* * *

"Thank you for having me but I better be going." Emily said later that morning when everyone was now downstairs except for Luke who had needed to get to the diner.

"Aw are you sure? You're welcome to hang out with us longer if you want to." Lorelai said.

"That would be nice but I do have some errands to run. But thank you, Lorelai. It's been...fun." Emily said.

"When have you ever said fun before?" Lorelai grinned.

Emily laughed slightly. "I guess it has been a while."

"Thought so!" She grinned.

"Honestly though, thank you." Emily smiled softly. "I'll...see you soon?"

"Of course." Lorelai smiled. "Come on, I'll walk you out." She said.

"Bye Grandma!" Rory smiled.

"Bye Grandma!" Josh waved.

"Goodbye." Emily smiled at her grandchildren before following Lorelai.

"Thank you for yesterday. I know I've already said it before but having a piece of dad was just what I needed yesterday. So thank you for doing that for me." Lorelai smiled softly. "I won't forget it."

Emily smiled tremulously. "Your father always did have a knack of appearing when we least expected it, didn't he?"

Lorelai laughed and smiled tremulously. "Like when he retired from his job and annoyed us both?"

Emily laughed. "Yes." She said. She sniffed slightly. "I would give anything to have him annoy me like that now though. Tell me off for having so many cups of coffee in the morning."

Lorelai laughed. "And not having a grapefruit in the morning."

Emily smiled. "Thank you again for having me. I really should get going."

"Ok." She smiled softly. "Let us know whenever you fancy another movie night."

She smiled. "I'd like that. Thank you, Lorelai." She smiled softly.

"Bye mom." Lorelai said softly.

"Goodbye Lorelai." Emily smiled. She hesitated before slowly going forward and giving her daughter a hug. She gave her daughter one last smile before walking off to her car. She waved one last time before driving off, smiling as she glanced out the window at Stars Hollow. Yes, she was definitely starting to like Stars Hollow.

 **So I hope you liked it! I wanted to do something different so I hope you liked it from Emily's point of view. Please keep the reviews coming as I love reading what you all think! Thanks again for all your support! I really do appreciate it. :)**


	20. Chapter 19

**Thank you for the continued support! I'm constantly overwhelmed by it. :) Here's the next chapter.**

Chapter 19

"Coffee please!" Lorelai smiled as she sat down at the counter at Luke's.

"How many have you had today already?" Luke narrowed his eyes.

"Not many." She said innocently.

"Plus?"

"5." She grinned.

"You're an addict." Luke said handing her a cup.

"And you're an angel! With wings!" She grinned sipping the coffee eagerly.

"Where's Josh?" He asked.

"Babette." She said. She turned when she heard laughter coming from a table and she saw Rory, Tristan, Jess and Lane sat there. "Oh, how long have they been here?" She asked.

"A while." Luke said. He glanced over to them. "Do you find it weird?" He asked.

"What?" Lorelai said.

"Rory and Jess. They used to date and now they're sat together with their boyfriend and girlfriend chatting amicably." Luke said. "I just never thought I'd see that." He said.

"Well, people change. Rory and Jess have been through a lot since they were together. I guess they really have moved on." Lorelai smiled. "I mean I know I'd be cool if I saw Rachel or Nicole again." She said. "And I know you and Chris have issues but I reckon even you two could be civil now."

"Can you imagine you and me having dinner with him and his new girlfriend?" Luke pointed out.

Lorelai smiled slightly. "Ok, maybe not. But I still think you two would be civil." She said.

Luke sighed. "Yeah I guess so. I guess I just never thought Jess and Rory would be like that again. They're so at ease with each other now. It's like when they first met."

Lorelai glanced over at the table and smiled softly. "I know I haven't always been a fan of Jess but he really sorted his life out. And I do know how much they meant to each other back then. It's nice that they're good again. And trust me, I never thought I'd say that!" She joked.

Luke chuckled. "You're right. It's nice." He smiled.

Meanwhile Rory, Tristan, Jess and Lane were sat at the table enjoying some pie together. Rory glanced over at the counter where she saw her mom laughing with Luke and smiled. "I love watching that." She said.

"Oh yeah, I love watching that sappiness." Jess said sarcastically.

"Oh come on, it's sweet! Even after all this time and after they've been through so much, they can still make each other smile." Rory smiled. "It's nice."

"I don't know why they didn't get together so much earlier. It was so obvious they liked each other. I mean, I called it on my first day." Jess said.

"What, when you asked my mom whether she was sleeping with Luke?" Rory smirked.

"She told you?" Jess said surprised.

"Eventually. Now I sort of understand why she had such a grudge against you from day one." She joked.

"You asked Lorelai that?" Lane said shocked.

"I was angry. It was my first day and I didn't want to have to make small talk with weird strangers in a crazy town." Jess said. He saw Rory and Lane raise their eyebrows and he sighed. "Obviously I don't think that now! But I was a moody teenager. You both know what I was like back then." He said.

"True. You were the kind of person who would get into a fight with Chuck Presby for the hell of it." Rory smirked.

"Chuck Presby was a jerk though." Lane pointed out.

"That's true." She said. She turned when she heard Tristan chuckling beside her. "What?" She said.

"Nothing." He chuckled. "Just thinking how surreal it is that we're hanging out with your ex. Oh and your ex who happens to be dating your best friend." He said.

"It's not weird." Rory said quickly.

"It is kind of weird." Jess said smirking slightly.

Rory glanced at him and then at Lane and then at Tristan before finally smiling. "Yeah ok, maybe it's a little weird." She laughed. "But it's nice too." She smiled. "I honestly thought it might be awkward between us forever." She admitted, glancing at Jess.

"Me too." He admitted. "But I'm glad it's not."

Rory smiled. "Me too." She said softly.

"Can you imagine your mom, Luke and your dad sitting round a table like this though?" Jess smirked.

Rory had to smile at that. "Probably not." She admitted. "Although, to be honest, I think my dad's finally moved on from mom." She said. "I think he's finally realised that...well...that mom always belonged with Luke. Even when they were married for that short time, I think he knew deep down that mom still loved Luke."

"And Luke never stopped loving your mom either." Lane said. "Trust me, I worked with him every day."

Rory glanced over at her mom and Luke and saw them laughing together. "I'm glad they sorted things out."

"You know what?" Jess said.

"What?" Rory said.

"It is nice to see them like that." He said.

Rory grinned. "Aw Jess, I knew you were softy deep down!" She teased.

"Yep, walked right into it." Jess mumbled.

"She's right though. You are a softy." Lane smiled, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Jess blushed slightly. "Ah geez..." He said. He glanced at Tristan. "Quick note, don't show your honest feelings or you will be teased mercilessly." He said smirking slightly.

Tristan chuckled. "Duly noted." He said.

* * *

Jess walked into the diner later that day to help out but groaned when she saw who was at the counter. "Ah geez..." He said.

"Jess!" A familiar voice exclaimed excitedly.

"Tried to warn you but your cell went to voicemail." Luke said.

"My phone died when I was out with the others." Jess said.

"How are you doing? It seems like forever since we saw you!" Liz exclaimed, bringing him in for a big hug.

"Liz.." He said. He glanced at the person still sat at the counter. "You're still around then? Impressive." He said dryly.

"Still around and still so much in love with your mom. She's one hot lady." TJ said.

"Seriously?" Jess groaned. "Too much information!"

"Definitely." Luke mumbled.

"Oh come on, you two, lighten up!" Liz laughed.

"So where's...?" Jess started to ask when he heard two familiar voices and his face softened immediately.

"Jess!" Doula exclaimed excitedly, rushing from behind the curtain.

"Hey Doula!" Jess said, smiling at his nine year old sister, accepting her hug easily. "Hey Will." He smiled at the five year old boy standing behind her.

"Hi." Will smiled shyly at him.

"Does your big brother get a hug?" Jess smirked slightly.

Will grinned before launching forward and giving him a hug.

"They've missed their big brother." Liz smiled fondly at her children.

"Yeah..uh..sorry. The book tour was crazy." Jess said.

"Oh no, I wasn't having a go! I was so proud of you! Wasn't I going round and telling everyone about Jess' book?" Liz said looking at TJ.

"You were." TJ nodded. "She is a very proud mom." He said.

"I wasn't trying to make you feel bad, honestly." Liz said. "You rang every week. The kids looked forward to your call every day."

Jess smiled slightly. "It was the highlight of my week as well." He said, ruffling Doula's hair.

"Is Rory here? Can we go and see her?" Doula asked excitedly.

"And here I was thinking you'd want to spend time with your big brother." Jess smirked. "Once again, I've lost out to Rory."

"Kids, why you you go with Jess and your dad and go get some ice cream? You can spend some time with your brother and then afterwards Jess can take you to go and see Rory." Liz suggested.

"Do we have to?" Jess said, not exactly looking forward to spending time with TJ.

"Go on, it'll be fun. It will give you two time to catch up and bond as well!" Liz said. "Go on, I'll catch up with you later." She smiled.

"Come on then kids." TJ smiled. "Ready?" He asked Jess.

"I guess." Jess sighed.

"Have fun." Luke said smirking slightly.

"Sure." Jess said dryly. "You don't care you're losing your help in the diner this afternoon?"

"Nah, it's not busy anyway." Luke smirked.

"Sure it's not."

"Have fun!" Liz smiled waving at them as they all left the diner. She turned back to see Luke smirking. "What?" She said.

"You know, however many times you make Jess and TJ spend time together, they're not going to miraculously get on." He said.

"They're not that bad!" Liz said. She smiled slightly as Luke raised his eyebrows. "Alright fine. Jess has never warmed to him but TJ is really proud of him. He tries so hard and I wish Jess could see that. He only wants to get more than two words out of him." She sighed.

"Liz, you can't force Jess to like him." Luke said. "I'm sure he'll come round but it's not surprising he's not exactly trusting." He said.

Liz sighed. "I know, I know. I just want him to see that TJ really is different." She said. "I really love him, Luke. And he's such a good dad."

"I'll give him that. Those kids adore him." Luke said.

"They really do." Liz smiled softly. "He...changed my life, Luke. You know how you feel about Lorelai? How she's always been the one for you?"

"Yeah.." He said.

"That's how I feel about TJ. He's the one for me. It's such a good feeling." She smiled.

Luke smiled at that. "It is a good feeling." He said softly. "I am happy for you, Liz."

"Thank you, big brother." She said softly.

"Just...don't push it too much with Jess. You know what he's like. He'll come round. Just don't force it." He said.

"Yeah ok." She conceded.

* * *

Meanwhile, TJ and Jess were stood at the Soda Shoppe waiting for Doula and Will to decide what flavour ice cream they wanted. TJ glanced at Jess. "You know, your mom really is so proud of you. She was so excited about your book tour." He said.

"I know." Jess said.

"I was too." TJ said. "Your writing is amazing. Your book is great."

Jess glanced at him in surprise. "You read it?"

"Your sister wanted to read it so she makes me read to her every night." TJ chuckled.

Jess smirked slightly. "Hard to say no to her, huh?"

"Oh yeah!" TJ smirked. "She's proud of her big brother though."

Jess smiled slightly. "I am sorry I haven't seen them recently. It's been crazy."

"It's fine. You still call. We know you're busy." He said.

Jess glanced at him. "You know why mom keeps sending the two of us out whenever we see each other right?"

"Oh yeah. She wants us to bond." TJ nodded.

"No. She wants me to bond with you." Jess said.

"It's fine that you don't like me. I know I'm probably not your idea of a step dad." He shrugged. "I mean, Rory has Luke and he's probably the best anyone could have and I know you two are close so I know I definitely don't rate to him."

Jess glanced at him. "I never said I didn't like you..." He said.

"You always thought your mom was crazy to marry me though, didn't you?" TJ said. He saw Jess duck his head slightly. "It's fine." He said. "I know I'm pretty crazy and full on. I just...I hope you know that I genuinely love your mom."

"I do know that. Noone would last this long with her if they didn't love her." Jess said.

"I would really like us to be able to get on. I can try to calm down a bit if you want. I'm happy to try anything. I just..I know it would mean so much to your mom." He said.

Jess sighed. "Yeah..."

TJ glanced at him. "So..uh..we're good?" He asked.

Jess shrugged. "Depends." He said.

"On what?" TJ asked.

"Whether you're buying my ice cream. They get theirs paid for." He said gesturing to Doula and Will. "It's only fair if you buy your step son one as well." He said smirking slightly.

TJ chuckled. "Only if you come with me to the park with those two." He said. "Deal or no deal?" He said holding out a hand.

Jess smirked. "Deal." He said shaking his hand. "But only if you don't go on about tights the whole time."

"Deal." TJ smirked. He then paid for the ice creams before the four of them left and headed for the park.

* * *

"I won!" Will exclaimed as he ran through the front door of the Crap Shack. "Uncle Luke, I beat Jess in the race!" He exclaimed.

"Good job!" Luke smirked.

"Thought you were meant to be neutral. I'm really feeling the love, Uncle Luke." Jess grumbled.

"I'm sure he beat you fair and square." Luke said.

"You getting old, Jess?" Rory grinned.

"No, he cheated." Jess grumbled.

"I did not!" Will exclaimed.

"Just admit it, your brother beat you." TJ chuckled as he followed in with Doula.

"I hate this family." He mumbled collapsing on the couch.

"Aw we still love you, Jess." Lorelai grinned.

"You just love the cute little boy more." Jess said smirking slightly.

"Well, true. But you're our cute big boy!" Lorelai said.

"That just sounds wrong." Jess said.

"Yeah you're right. Forget I said anything." She smirked. "Good job, Will! You made Jess eat dust!" She grinned.

"I still love you." Doula said sitting next to Jess, giving him a hug.

"Thanks, Doula." He chuckled. "Nice to know someone in the family's loyal."

"So did you all have a fun time?" Liz asked.

Jess and TJ exchanged a glance and smiled slightly. "It was good. I fed the ducks with the kids and Jess read a book." TJ said.

"Oh." Liz said disappointed. She then noticed Jess and TJ smirking. "You're teasing me..."

"Well you can't blame us. We've known why we always have an outing together every time we see each other." Jess said.

Liz ducked her head sheepishly. "I just wanted you to get on. Is that so bad?"

TJ sat down next to her and gave her a kiss. "Of course not." He smiled. "That's why Jess and I made an effort this time."

"Really?" Liz asked lighting up.

"Yep, Jess didn't pick up his book all day." TJ joked.

"And TJ didn't talk about the advantages of wearing tights." Jess smirked.

"So...you had fun?" Liz asked hesitantly.

"It was good." TJ smiled. "Right?" He said to Jess.

"Wasn't the worst thing in the world." He shrugged.

"Well I'll take that." TJ joked.

Lorelai laughed. "Are you all joining us for dinner?" She asked.

"If we're not putting you out?" Liz said.

"Not at all. You're always welcome." Lorelai smiled.

"You're sure we're not putting you out?" Liz said.

"Hey, any family of Luke's is family of mine." Lorelai smiled. "It's lovely to see you all. Right hon?" She said to Luke.

"Says the woman who doesn't do the cooking." Luke smirked.

"Do you want me to do the cooking?" She grinned.

"Stay away from the kitchen." He said.

"Exactly." She said.

Luke smirked, getting up. "Guess that's my cue."

"I love you." Lorelai grinned.

"Back at you." He smirked. "Dinner will be ready in half an hour." He told them.

"Can't wait!" She grinned. "Right let's see what's on tv while we wait." She smiled settling onto the couch.

Rory went and sat next to Jess. "It was sweet of you to let Will win the race. See, I told you that you were a softy." She teased.

"Not a softy. He genuinely won the race." Jess said.

"Uh huh, sure." Rory said.

Jess smiled slightly. "Well you saw how happy he was..."

"Softy." Rory teased.

Jess smirked. "Maybe I am." He said. He glanced round as Lorelai flicked through the channels on the tv. He glanced at his sister and brother. Doula was reading and Will was playing with Josh on the floor. He smiled as he watched them. He then glanced over at Liz and TJ who was sat together. He had to give it to them. Whatever he thought about his mom and TJ, he had to admit they were good parents to Doula and Will. He was not expecting it but they had surprised him. And he was glad. He was never good with kids but he loved his siblings. He glanced at Rory who was still grinning at him. He smirked slightly. Even if it meant Rory calling him a softy. He glanced round the room again. At one time, he always wished he could have had another family but right now, in this moment, he didn't want to be part of any other family.

 **So I hope you liked it! :) Please keep the reviews coming! I really do love reading what you think so thank you for your continued support! :)**


	21. Chapter 20

**Sorry for the delay! I've just got back from a long weekend away to celebrate my Grandma's 90th birthday so haven't had any time to write. Thank you for your continued support and I hope you're still with me. :)**

Chapter 20

Luke squinted his eyes open and saw Lorelai already dressed for work. He glanced at the clock which read 6:00. "You're up early again." He said.

"Busy day." Lorelai said.

"You seem to have had busy days for three weeks." Luke commented.

"Yeah, well it's a busy time for the inn." She said. She suddenly winced and grimaced in pain.

"Are you ok?" He asked concerned.

"I'm fine." She said.

"It's not just you working at the inn, you know. You don't need to always work these long days." He pointed out.

Lorelai frowned. "Are you saying I'm not up to it?"

"No, I just don't want you stressing yourself out and wearing yourself out. It's not good for you." Luke said.

"I'm fine." She said.

"Ok, well give me a minute and I can make you some breakfast." He said.

"No, it's fine, I'll just grab a pop tart!" Lorelai said.

"That's not exactly..." Luke started to say but Lorelai was already out of the room. "...breakfast." He sighed.

An hour later, Luke was up cooking breakfast for Josh before school. He glanced up as Rory appeared from her room. "Morning." He said.

"Morning." Rory yawned. "Did I hear mom up early again?"

"Yeah. Early start again." Luke said.

Rory glanced at him. "She seems to have had a lot of those recently." She said cautiously.

Luke sighed. "Tell me about it."

"I wish she wouldn't work so hard. These long days can't be good for her." Rory said.

"I know. I've tried telling her that but...well, you know your mom." Luke said.

Rory smiled sympathetically at him. "Force of nature huh?"

"Something like that." He said.

"Well, I guess the inn is always busy around this time but it should quieten down soon. Then hopefully she can relax a bit." She said.

"Let's hope so." Luke sighed. He glanced at her. "Off to the newspaper?" He asked.

"Yep." She nodded. "Has Jess opened for you today?" She asked.

"Yeah, I need to take this one to school." Luke nodded towards Josh.

"Ah!" She said. "Well if you need to get off, I can take Josh on my way to the newspaper."

"That would help a lot actually. You sure?" He said.

"Of course." Rory smiled. "But make sure you don't work late as well." She said sternly.

Luke smirked slightly. "I won't, mom."

Rory grinned. "Great! See you later then."

"See ya. Thanks again." He smiled before heading off to work.

* * *

Luke looked up from the counter at lunch time to see Lorelai rushing in. "Hey." He said leaning over to give her a kiss.

"Hey." She said giving him a quick peck. "Burger and fries please and make it quick! And with ketchup! And coffee!" She said.

"You wouldn't prefer a salad? Or a sandwich?" Luke said. He saw her giving him a look and sighed. "Alright, coming up." He said.

"Thank you." Lorelai said.

Luke brought the food back after a moment and watched as she scoffed it down. "It won't run away, you know. Slow down." He said.

"Need to get back. I've still got lots of things to do and then I need to collect Josh from school and then race back to work." Lorelai said quickly.

"You're working late again?" He asked.

"Yes!" She exclaimed exasperated. "Luke, I told you, it's a busy time!" She said suddenly grimacing again.

"Ok fine! I was just asking." Luke said. "Are you sure you're ok? You look in pain."

"I'm fine." She shrugged it off. "Probably just ate too fast."

He sighed. "Look, I'm sure Jess would be happy to collect Josh if that helps." He said.

Lorelai glanced up. "You think he would?"

Luke saw Jess appear from the apartment upstairs. "Hey Jess, you're ok to pick Josh up from school right? It would really help us out."

"Sure." Jess nodded.

"You sure you don't mind?" Lorelai asked.

"No, it's fine. I can take him back to yours and start his dinner if you want." He said.

"Thanks Jess." She smiled gratefully. "Right, I have to go." She said getting up.

"At least promise me you won't be too late back tonight." Luke said.

"Ok I promise. Bye doll." She said giving him a kiss.

"Bye." He sighed as he watched her rush out.

"Everything ok?" Jess asked.

"Yeah. Just...busy time at the inn." Luke sighed.

"Oh.." He said.

* * *

"Michel, just do it! Please!" Lorelai exclaimed frustrated before heading through the dining room, picking up a couple of plates as she did, and heading for the kitchen. "Sookie, these empty plates have been on the tables for ages. Please make sure they're cleared."

"It's only been a few minutes. They were just about to go clear them." Sookie said.

"We have to be efficient, Sookie! This is a busy time for us. We need these customers to recommend us. And they won't if our dining room is a mess!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Ok, sit down." Sookie said.

"I don't have time." Lorelai said.

"Yes, you do. You've been racing around for weeks now." She said.

"I'm fine. I just need more coffee and I'll be fine." Lorelai said grabbing a mug. She started walking off when she felt a shot of pain in her chest that caught her by surprise and she felt the mug slip out of her hand. It fell on the floor and smashed. "Sookie, I'm sorry. I...I don't know what happened."

"It's fine. Just sit down for a moment. Please." Sookie said softly, leading her to a chair and gesturing to one of their kitchen staff to clean up the mug. She noticed Lorelai breathing quite quickly. "Are you ok?" She said concerned.

"I..I don't know." Lorelai admitted. "I...I'll be fine. I just...need to catch my breath for a minute."

"I think you need to go home." Sookie said gently.

"What?" She said surprised. "No, I can't. The inn..."

"Will be perfectly fine without you for a day. You need rest, Lorelai. You've been doing double the hours of all of us. You're going to make yourself sick." She said.

Lorelai sighed. "Luke's been getting onto me about taking a break as well."

"Well, he worries about you too." Sookie said. "Lorelai, we all know you're amazing at your job. But it doesn't mean you have to handle it all by yourself. That's what me and Michel are for. Now I know Michel can be frustrating at times but he's good at his job."

"I know." She sighed. "Maybe...maybe I will call it a day and go and lie down for a bit. Are you sure you'll be ok?"

"Of course. Just promise me you'll take it easy." She said.

"Ok, I promise." Lorelai said.

"Good. Now go." Sookie smiled.

"Thanks Sook." She smiled softly.

* * *

Jess was walking Josh back to the Crap Shack after school and kicking the football with him. They reached the driveway and Jess frowned slightly when he saw Lorelai's jeep parked there.

"Is mom home?" Josh asked.

"I don't know. She wasn't meant to be." Jess said. "Come on, let's go inside." He said leading her up the porch steps. "Lorelai?" He called as they went inside. They went inside and Jess saw Lorelai come out of the kitchen, looking as white as anything. "Are you ok?" He asked.

"I...I'm..." Lorelai tried to say but doubled over in pain and let out a groan.

"Lorelai!" Jess exclaimed rushing forward and grabbing hold of her hand. "What's wrong? What hurts?"

"Chest...can't...breathe...pains..." Lorelai grimaced, letting out another groan and her legs came out form under her and she collapsed to the floor. "Lorelai?" Jess exclaimed, concerned. "Josh, phone now!" He shouted.

Josh grabbed the phone and took it to Jess, staring in horror at his mom who was clearing in pain on the floor.

Jess dialled a number immediately. "Yes, I need an ambulance. I...I think my aunt's having a heart attack." He said. "Please hurry!" He exclaimed giving the address before hanging up.

"Is mom going to die?" Josh said quietly.

Jess looked up at the nine year old and saw the fear on his face. "No. Your mom's going to be fine. I need you to be brave for me ok? I need you to go over to Babette and Morey's and ask them to call your dad ok? Tell them to tell him that your mom's not well and I'm taking her to hospital. Can you remember all that?"

Josh nodded slowly. "You promise she will be ok?"

"I promise." He said softly. "Now go." He said urgently. He looked back at Lorelai after Josh had left and felt her grip his hand tightly.

"D..d..don't...leave...me...please." She managed to get out.

Jess saw the fear and pain on her face. "I'm not going anywhere." He said softly. "You're going to be ok. Just focus on me ok? The ambulance is on its way." He said. "Come on..." He muttered. "Hurry up..." He said urgently and felt himself let out a breath of relief when he heard sirens outside.

 **So quite a dramatic chapter! Please don't kill me! :P I hope you enjoyed it and please keep the reviews coming as I love reading all your comments. :) Thanks again for all your support. I really do appreciate it! :)**


	22. Chapter 21

**Thank you so much for all your support! Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up! Now I'm not a medical expert so please be kind! :)**

Chapter 21

"Jess!" A familiar voice shouted out.

Jess looked up from his seat in the waiting room at the hospital and saw Luke rushing towards him, concern and worry evident on his face. "Hey.." He said.

"What happened? Where is she? Is she ok?" Luke asked quickly.

"They're doing tests, so that's where she is." Jess said. "Blood tests and another EKG. They did an EKG in the ambulance but I guess they're still trying to determine how much damage was actually caused by the heart attack. But that's definitely what it was. It was a myocardial infarction, which is a heart attack apparently." He said letting out a breath. "I can't believe she had a heart attack. Can that even happen to people Lorelai's age?" He said.

"Apparently it can." Luke said quietly.

Jess glanced at his uncle. "Hey, look, Lorelai's tough. She will get through this. You know she will." He said.

Luke glanced around. "Is it only you here?"

Jess nodded. "Rory said she was going to pick up Josh and then meet us here. I just thought it was better to get Lorelai straight here without delays before ringing everyone else. I also rang Emily. I thought...with everything with Richard...you know..."

"No, you're right. I'm glad you did. You don't know how grateful I am that you were there for her. Thank you." Luke said.

"Anyone would have done the same." Jess shrugged it off.

"Come here." Luke said pulling him into a hug. "I know it must have been hard for you to witness. I know that, trust me. But thank you for acting fast and getting her here."

Jess sighed. "I told the paramedics she was my aunt. Which she is. Obviously. But..well..you know Lorelai and I have had our ups and downs but she's been a lot like a mom figure for me. I...she just fell down. It was awful..." He admitted.

"And Josh was there too?" Luke asked.

"Yeah...god, you should have seen his face. I hate that I didn't get him out of that house quicker." Jess said.

"Hey, you did good, Jess. You did good." He assured him.

A doctor then came up to them. "Are you Lorelai Gilmore's family?"

"I'm her husband. Is she ok?" Luke asked.

"I'm Dr Goldstein. She's doing alright. She's conscious, cogent and not in significant pain right now." He said.

"That's good right?" Jess said.

"It's good." He nodded. We just sent her to the cath lab to get an angiogram. After that, we should be able to get a better sense of what kind of blockage is around her heart. And then we'll figure out where to go from there."

"Where could it go? Like could it be serious?" Luke asked.

"If it is more serious than we thought, we may have to recommend an emergency bypass surgery." Dr Goldstein said. "But try not to worry. I'll let you know as soon as I know more."

"Ok. Thank you." Luke said. He let out a breath and collapsed into a chair. "This can't be happening..." He said.

"It might not be as serious as they thought. She may not need the surgery." Jess tried to reassure his uncle.

"Yeah but then she might." He said.

"Try and stay positive ok? For their sakes more than anyone." Jess said.

"What?" Luke said.

"We've been joined." Jess said gesturing towards Rory and Josh who was walking towards them.

"Luke! Where's mom? Is she ok?" Rory asked worried.

"The doctor came out. They said she's conscious and not in significant pain anymore. They've sent her for more tests and then we will know better what happens next." Luke said.

"What happens next?" She said worried.

"Well if it is a bit more serious, she may need surgery."

"Surgery? Oh god..." Rory said quietly.

"Hey, she will be ok. Your mom's tough." Jess said giving Rory a hug.

"How are you doing?" Luke said softly, picking up Josh.

"Is mom going to die?" He asked quietly.

"No. No, your mom's not going to die. The doctors here are amazing ok? They're going to look after your mom so well." Luke assured his son. He then made eye contact with Rory. "She's going to get through this. We're all going to get through this. Together." He said. "Come here." He said reaching out an arm for Rory as well and she joined the hug.

* * *

Rory glanced beside her where Luke was sat with Josh snuggled on his lap. They had been waiting a while now for more news. She then glanced over at her grandma who had arrived not that long ago. She had been sitting in silence as well. She knew it must have been hard for her having seen her grandpa in this same situation many times. She then turned when she heard Jess get up and walk away. She slowly got up and followed him. She found him round the corner getting a drink from the water fountain. "Hey.." She said.

"Hey.." He said.

"How are you doing?" She asked.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Jess said.

"You were the one who was there and had to witness it..." Rory said quietly. "I..I remember what it was like to witness my grandpa just collapse in the lecture hall infront of me. I was terrified." She said.

Jess sighed. "I just wish they'd tell us what was happening. It feels like ages." He said.

"Yeah." She sighed. "I remember that feeling as well."

Jess glanced at her. "So how are you doing?" He asked.

"I'm trying to stay positive." Rory admitted. "But...it's hard."

"I get that." He nodded.

"Hey Jess?" She said.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for being with her. And getting her here. I...I'm glad she wasn't alone." She said quietly.

"She asked me not to leave her. So I didn't." He said.

Rory went forward and hugged him. "Thank you." She said sincerely. "You...you may have saved my mom's life and for that, I will be eternally grateful."

Jess gave her a small smile. "I know your mom and I didn't have the best start but I hope you know I'd do anything for you or your mom. You're...you're family."

Rory blinked back tears. "I know." She said softly. "And the feeling's mutual."

Jess nodded. "I..uh..I just need to make a call and then I'll be right back." He said.

"Yeah, I told Tristan I'd call him with any updates." She said. "Meet you back at the waiting room?"

"See you back there." He nodded.

Rory saw him take out his cell phone and she smiled softly as she heard him talking to the person on the other end of the line.

"Hey mom, it's me..." He said.

* * *

Another half an hour passed and Dr Goldstein finally came back.

"Is she ok?" Luke asked getting up immediately.

"Thankfully it's not as serious as we thought." He told them. "She can have the option for surgery if she wishes to but we don't think it's necessary at this time. We believe that with some lifestyle changes and some prescribed medication, we can make sure this doesn't happen again."

"So she's going to be ok?" Emily asked.

Luke saw the doctor look at the others, not knowing who they were. "This is her mother." He explained. "And her daughter and son." He said gesturing to Rory and Josh.

"Oh ok." He said. "Well, yes, I can assure you she's going to be ok." He smiled.

"Really?" Rory asked.

"Really. Your mom will be fine." Dr Goldstein assured her.

Rory let out a breath and exchanged a relieved smile with Luke. "Thank you." She said gratefully.

"Can we see her?" Luke asked.

"Of course. Just follow me." He smiled and he led them down a corridor to her room. "Take your time." He told them before leaving them to it.

Luke pushed open the door and he felt Josh push past him. "Mom!" Josh exclaimed rushing up to the bed.

"Hey sweetheart." Lorelai smiled weakly. "Be careful." She told her son as he clambered up onto the bed. "Your mom's still a little delicate."

"Are you going to be ok?" Josh asked quietly, snuggling into her.

"I'm going to be just fine. Just a little scare, that's all." She assured her son, kissing the top of her head. "I'm so sorry I scared you. You shouldn't have had to see that." She said softly.

"It's ok." He said quietly.

Lorelai glanced up and saw the others. "Hey.." She smiled softly at them.

"You have no idea how good it is to see you awake and speaking." Emily said emotionally. "The images that were going through my mind..."

"I'm sorry." Lorelai said quietly.

"No, you don't have to be sorry." Emily smiled tremulously. She took hold of her daughter's hand. "I'm just so glad you're going to be ok."

"Me too." Lorelai said quietly. She glanced at Rory. "Hey sweets..."

"Hey.." Rory smiled tremulously. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I had a heart attack." She joked.

"Mom..." Rory said but laughed slightly.

"Sorry." Lorelai smiled slightly. "I'm ok. Just a bit...shaken really. And tired."

"Well we'll let you get some rest." Emily said. "Come on, you three, I'll give you all a lift back." She said to Rory, Jess and Josh.

"But I want to stay with mom!" Josh said.

"I know you do but your mom needs some rest right now." Emily said softly.

"Your grandma's right. I promise I'll be home soon ok? And I will bring you back in the morning to see her." Luke told Josh.

"Promise?" He said.

"I promise." Luke smiled softly.

"Ok." He finally relented.

"Come on, give me a kiss." Lorelai smiled at him.

"Love you mom." Josh said giving her a hug and a kiss.

"Love you too. So much." She said softly. "Now go on, be good ok?"

"Ok." He said clambering off the bed.

"I'm really glad you're ok, mom." Rory said giving her a hug. "I love you."

"I love you too." Lorelai said softly. "I'm sorry I scared you."

"I'm just glad you're ok." Rory said softly. She let out a breath and smiled at her mom and then at her brother. "Come on you. Let's let mom rest." She said.

Lorelai watched as Rory and Josh headed out with her mother and then saw Jess turn to follow them. "Wait, Jess?" She said.

"Yeah?" He said turning back round.

"Come here." She said softly.

Jess walked back to the side of her bed. "Lorelai..."

"Just come here." She said pulling him into a hug. "Thank you." She said sincerely. "I...I was terrified and you were so calm..."

"Trust me, I wasn't calm inside." Jess chuckled nervously.

"Well you didn't show it and...you really helped me stay calm. So...thank you." She said softly.

Jess ducked his head slightly. "You're welcome." He said.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow." He nodded.

"Good." She smiled.

Jess turned to leave before turning back round. "Lorelai?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really glad you're ok." He said sincerely.

"Thanks Jess." She smiled softly. She watched him leave and then glanced at Luke who had sat down in the seat next to her. "Hey..." She sighed.

"Hey..." He said softly. "God, you gave me quite a scare today." He said.

"Sorry..." She said.

Luke sighed. "No, you don't have to be sorry. I just...I had so much going through my mind. My dad, your dad...and I just...I was so scared I wasn't going to see you again..."

"Hey." She said softly, taking hold of his hand. "I'm right here. I'm ok. I'm going to be ok." She assured him.

"Yeah..." Luke said trying to swallow a lump in his throat. "I...I was trying to stay strong infront of Josh and Rory because I didn't want to worry them but god, Lorelai, I was terrified. I..." He said his voice cracking. "I don't know what I would do if I lose you..."

"You won't." Lorelai promised, gripping his hand tightly. "I promise you, from now on, I'm going to start eating more healthily. I'm going to make a lot of changes ok? This was definitely a wake up call for me and it gave me a moment to realise what it would be like to not be able to see you all again. When...when I realised what was happening, that was all I could think of. I thought of my dad and how...how it ended for him...I was terrified, Luke." She admitted, her voice breaking. "God, I was so scared..."

"Come here." Luke said pulling her into a hug. "You're going to be fine. What happened to your dad, it won't happen to you ok? The doctors are positive that if you make some changes, you'll never have to go through this again. They're also prescribing you some medication as well. It's going to be ok." He assured her.

"I love you so much." She said emotionally. "I just...I love you so much. You know that right?"

"Of course I know that. And I love you too." He said softly, leaning in and giving her a kiss. "Just promise me you won't put me through this again. Because I really think I've grown some grey hair in these last two hours." He joked.

Lorelai laughed slightly. "I promise. Trust me, I do not want to experience anything like that ever again." She said.

Luke smiled and gave her another kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too." She smiled softly. "Can you stay for a bit?" She asked.

"Nowhere I'd rather be." He said softly.

 **So I hope you liked it! Again, I'm not a medical expert so I hope it was ok! :) Please keep the reviews coming as I love reading what you all think! Thanks again for all your support! It really means so much to me. :)**


	23. Chapter 22

**Sorry for the delay! Here's the next chapter! :)**

Chapter 22

Rory heard her bedroom door creak open early the following morning. She glanced at her clock which read 6:03am. She smiled softly as she saw who it was. "Hey.." She said. "Couldn't sleep huh?"

"I want to see mom." Josh said climbing up onto her bed.

"I know." She said. "We'll see her soon." She assured her little brother.

"Is she really going to be ok?" He asked quietly, snuggling into her under the covers.

"She's going to be fine. The doctors know what they're talking about." Rory said softly.

"She looked like she was dying..." Josh said quietly, sniffing slightly.

Rory sighed. "I'm sorry you had to witness that. I know what it's like to see something like that and it is really scary." She said. She glanced at her brother. "You know I saw it happen to our grandpa once." She told him.

"You did?" Josh asked turning towards her. "Was that when...he...died?"

"No!" Rory said quickly. "No, I wasn't there when that happened. This was years before. Even before you were born. Grandpa was giving a class at Yale where I was studying. One moment he was talking to the class and the next...well, he was in a lot of pain and had to be taken to hospital." She said quietly.

Josh snuggled closer to her. "I'm sorry you had to see that." He said quietly.

Rory smiled softly. "It was a long time ago." She said. "I know it was scary when you saw mom fall. But like Grandpa did back then, she's going to be fine. I promise you." She reassured him.

"Ok." Josh said, yawning slightly.

"Hey, why don't we try and get some more sleep before we get up? You can stay in here with me if you want." She smiled.

"Ok." He said snuggling down next to her. "What about Jess? Can he sleep in here too?" He asked.

"What?" She said surprised.

"He's asleep on the couch again." Josh said tiredly, closing his eyes.

"He is huh?" She said.

"He always seems to be sleeping here. I thought he lived above the diner?" He said.

"Well...he probably knows we will be going to see mom so he stayed here so he could come with us." Rory told him.

"Ok." Josh said, yawning again.

"Go to sleep. I will wake you up when it's time." She smiled softly.

* * *

Rory woke up a couple hours later and heard voices in the kitchen. She got dressed before heading into the kitchen. She smiled when she saw Josh standing next to Jess as he prepared a pancake mix.

"Can I make them with you again? Pleeeease!" Josh said.

"I don't know...will you say my pancakes are better than your dad's?" Jess smirked.

"Your pancakes are better than dad's." Josh said solemnly.

Jess smirked. "Alright, you can help."

"Turning him against Luke, are you?" Rory teased, making her presence known.

"Just making sure Luke doesn't totally own the kitchen. I need some credit." Jess joked.

Rory laughed. "Well I have to say your pancakes are very good." She said.

"Flattery will get you everywhere. You can have some of these." He smirked.

"Yes!" She grinned, thrusting her fist up in the air.

Jess cooked the pancakes with Josh's help before placing some infront of Rory. He glanced at her and could see she was deep in thought. "Hey Josh, why don't you go eat yours infront of the tv and then go get dressed so that when your dad's up, we can go straight to see your mom?" He said.

"Ok!" Josh said disappearing into the living room.

"You ok?" Jess asked Rory.

"Sorry, what?" Rory said looking up.

"You looked miles away just then." He said, sitting down opposite her and tucking into his own pancake.

"Sorry..." She sighed. "Just thinking..."

"Your mom's going to be fine. You heard the doctors, they said they were really positive." Jess said.

"I know." Rory said. "I do know that. It's just...I can't believe I nearly lost her yesterday. It was me and her against the world for so long, you know? It just...I guess it's just really sunk in that I could have lost her..." She sighed. "Sorry."

"You don't have to apologise. It's natural to feel like that." Jess said. "I know my mom and I haven't always been so close but I know that if this had happened to her, it would shake me. You and your mom are more like best friends. Of course it's going to shake you." He said. "But she's going to be fine." He smiled softly.

"I know." She smiled softly. "Thanks Jess."

"You know what they say, if you want words of wisdom, come to me." Jess smirked slightly.

Rory laughed. "Of course." She said. She glanced at him. "So I heard we had a sleeping visitor last night..." She said.

"Figured since we were all going to the hospital together, I'd just bunk here." He shrugged.

"Practical." Rory nodded.

Jess glanced at her and saw her look. "What?" He said.

"You just seem to be bunking here a lot recently." Rory said.

"I haven't." He said.

"Yeah you have. Even Josh has noticed. Now I know the bed at the apartment above the diner would beat our couch anyday so...there must be some reason for you to opt for our really uncomfortable couch for the night rather than a bed." She said casually.

Jess sighed. "It's too quiet there." He said.

"At the apartment?" She asked.

"Yeah..." He said. "I mean it's fine for the odd night but since I'll probably be sticking around, it's just a bit..."

"Lonely?" Rory guessed.

"I guess so." Jess said. He glanced at her. "Go on then, mock me."

Rory smiled slightly. "I would never mock you for that. I know that feeling. I got it loads when I was in New York by myself. I mean, the job was amazing but I did miss my friends and mom and Luke. Even you." She said.

"Even me huh?" He chuckled.

"Hey, I've just had an idea!" Rory said.

"Never a good thing to hear from you." Jess teased.

"Oh shush!" Rory said. "So...Tristan has been looking for a place around here. I know the commute for him from Hartford isn't so bad but I know he would like to find somewhere around here. And..well...I'll be here until I go off to Yale. And as you said, you'll be sticking around. So...why don't we all try and find a place together?" She suggested.

"Together? The three of us?" Jess said surprised.

"Yeah!" She nodded.

"Wouldn't that be a bit...awkward? The three of us living together..." He said hesitantly.

"Only if we make it be." She shrugged. "It would mean we would split the costs of everything and it..well, it could be cool to be roomies." She said.

"Are you ready to...well, move in with Tristan?" He asked. "I mean, that's quite big..."

"It's not like we'd be living together, just the two of us." Rory said. "You'd be there...oh, and you could ask Lane as well!" She said suddenly.

"What?" He said.

"Yeah! You should ask her! The four of us could find somewhere. It would be so cool!" Rory said warming up to the idea. "I know Lane's still living with Zach and Brian. I know her and Zach are still friends and everything but it must be a bit weird to still be living with her ex." She said.

"But it wouldn't be weird for us two to live with our ex?" Jess raised his eyebrows.

"Come on, Jess. It was more than 10 years ago now. I know we've moved on from that. From all the awkwardness. Well...I thought we had..." She said glancing at him.

Jess smiled slightly. "We have. I was only teasing."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Right..." She said. "So what do you say? It would mean not having to stay in the apartment anymore. And Lane and I always dreamt about what it would be like to live with each other when we grew up. What do you say, cuz? You in or not?" She grinned.

Jess smiled. "Alright, I'm in." He nodded. "I'll have to ask Lane though."

"Yes, ask her!" She grinned. "And I'll run it by Tristan as well." She said. "This is going to be so cool!"

Just then, Luke appeared from the doorway. "Hey, you two ready?" He asked.

"Yeah, we're ready." Rory said getting up. "We going now?"

"If that's ok with you?" Luke said.

"Sure. Let me grab my coat." She smiled. "I'll meet you out at the car."

* * *

"You have no idea how good it feels to get out of there." Lorelai breathed in the fresh air as they left the hospital later that day.

"I bet." Rory smiled.

"Can we have a movie marathon when we get home?" Josh asked, holding his mom's hand as they crossed the parking lot.

"Uh of course! I would expect nothing less!" Lorelai grinned. She glanced at Luke and then back at her son. "Just...maybe with less junk food." She said, giving Luke a soft smile.

"Jess can make his pancakes!" Josh said.

"Your pancakes are a hit huh?" She smirked at Jess.

"Jess' pancakes are better than dad's." Josh nodded solemnly.

"I'm sorry, what?" Luke said.

"How did you get him to say that?" Lorelai laughed, grinning at Jess.

"Let him help me make the pancakes." Jess smirked. "What can I say Uncle Luke, kids always tell the truth."

"Get in the car." He shook his head, reaching the car and unlocking it.

"Ooh such a sore loser." Jess smirked.

"Do you want to walk all the way back?" Luke said.

Jess smirked and got in the car. "Don't worry, I'm sure your pancakes are good too."

"Ah it's good to be back to the land of reality." Lorelai grinned as she got in the car with them all.

* * *

"So your mom's home?" Tristan asked as he walked Rory home after they had grabbed some food that evening.

"Yep and already driving Luke crazy." Rory smirked.

Tristan chuckled. "At least you know she's back to normal." He said.

"Yeah." Rory smiled. "She's sticking to her promises though. She literally had one mallomar during our movie marathon this afternoon. And she's already done herself a reminder schedule about when to take her medication. I think this really shook her." She said.

"I can imagine." He nodded. "And how about you? How are you feeling after it all?"

"I'm just glad she's ok. It's good to have her home." Rory said.

"Yeah." He smiled.

Rory glanced at her. "So I have a suggestion about your living situation..." She said.

"Oh yeah?" Tristan said glancing at her.

"I was talking to Jess this morning and he's not exactly enjoying living at the diner apartment that much and I love living at home but there's not that much space. I know I will always have my room there but I also know April will be visiting more regularly now and if she brings Freddie, I'm sure she'd like the privacy of my room to herself." Rory said. "I know you might think it's a bit weird seeing as Jess is my ex but that's all in the past. He's family to me and I don't want him to be miserable. I really think you two could really hit it off as well. And now I will stop rambling..." She said.

Tristan smirked slightly. "You've really thought this through huh?"

"Not really. But it just came to me this morning when Jess was saying how much he didn't really enjoy staying at the apartment by himself. And I know you have been trying to find somewhere around here. And I also know Lane would probably like to get out of her house where she's still living with Zach. The idea just came to me and the more I think about it, the more I think it would actually be pretty cool." Rory admitted. "But...if it would be too weird for you, living with my ex, or even living with me so soon after we've started dating, I'd understand..." She said.

Tristan glanced at her. "Jess is cool with this?" He asked.

"Yeah." She nodded. "He said he'd have to talk to Lane but I'm pretty sure she'd be up for it."

Tristan nodded. "Ok." He said.

"Ok?" She said glancing at him.

"Ok." He smiled. "Let's start looking for somewhere."

"You're serious?" Rory said excitedly.

Tristan chuckled. "It sounds cool. If everyone else is up for it, then so am I." He said.

"Yes!" She exclaimed, giving him a hug. "This is going to be cool." She said excitedly.

Tristan smiled and walked Rory up the porch steps to the Crap Shack. "Call you tomorrow and we can start looking?" He said.

"Why don't you come in for a bit?" She smiled.

"You sure?" He asked. "I wouldn't want to intrude."

"Mom won't mind." Rory assured him. "She wants things back to normal. That's why she was so adamant I keep my plans and go out with you tonight." She said.

"Ok. If you're sure?" Tristan said.

Rory smiled and leant in to kiss him. "I'm sure. Come on. You and Jess can start to bond as well!" She grinned opening the front door.

"Ah I knew there was a motive." Tristan smirked, following her.

"You love me really." She said casually, not realising what she had said.

Tristan smiled and followed her into the house. "You have no idea." He said.

 **Hope you liked it and I hope you're all still with me! Sorry again about the delay in posting! This week has been very busy for me. Please keep the reviews coming as I do love reading what you all think. Thanks for all your support! It really does mean so much to me. :)**


	24. Chapter 23

**Thank you for all your support! :) Here's the next chapter! :) I'm going away for my birthday for a few days so won't be able to update until next week.**

Chapter 23

"No way." Jess said as they left an apartment.

"Why, what was wrong with that one?" Rory asked.

"It was pink." Jess said.

"There is a such thing as paint, you know." Lane said. "We can paint it."

"You mean me and Tristan can paint it." Jess said. "You and Rory will probably just sit there, eating junk food and laughing at us."

"He does have a point." Rory joked. "Ok, so which one do you like?" She asked him.

"The one before." He said.

"The one with the two fridges?" Rory asked.

"No."

"The one before was the one with two fridges." Lane said.

"No, the one we saw before was the one with the cat." Jess said.

"I hate cats." Tristan said.

"Well, I don't think the cat came with the place." Rory smirked.

"Yeah, but it had carpeting which means it's always going to smell like a cat." Tristan said.

"He's got a point." Jess said.

"Well then we clean the carpet." Lane said.

"Or we can paint the pink." Rory said.

"What about the one next to the bank?" Lane said.

"Too many windows." Jess said.

"What?" Lane said.

"Six windows all on one side, three o'clock in the afternoon and we're sitting in an oven." Jess said. "Oh geez..." He suddenly said.

"What?" Rory said.

"I'm turning into Luke..." He groaned.

"And you're just realising that now?" Rory teased.

"Very funny." He said dryly.

"What do you mean you're turning into Luke?" Lane laughed.

"He was exactly the same when we were looking for apartments when I lived here." Jess said.

"Oh yeah, I remember that!" Rory said. "Luke ended up buying the whole building next to the diner just to annoy Taylor!" She grinned.

Jess smirked. "I did think that was pretty cool." He admitted.

"We've got one more to look at." Tristan said. "It's a house though so a little over our budget..." He said.

Rory glanced at the brochure for it. "It is a bit more but...I've still got some money aside that my Grandpa left me."

"I thought you were using that for Yale." Jess said.

"I am. Most of it." She nodded. "But...I still had some left. It would be enough to pay the extra amount of this house." She said.

"We can't expect you to do that." Lane said.

"I want to. I really want us to live together and if this house is the answer, then I'm willing to help us get it." Rory said.

"Ok, why don't we have a look at it before we make a decision?" Jess suggested. "We might not like it. But...if we do...I've got some money saved too."

They all walked to the house. It was a two storey house in Stars Hollow, not far from the centre.

"It's nice." Lane said as they walked up to it.

"It has two bedrooms upstairs and two bedrooms downstairs." Kirk said as he met them there. "I will let you have a look and then let me know what you think." He said.

"Thanks Kirk!" Rory grinned as they headed inside. "This is nice." She commented.

The house has a spacious living room and kitchen downstairs, a bathroom, along with two of the bedrooms. Upstairs, there was another bathroom and two more bedrooms.

"It's bigger than I thought it would be." Tristan said.

"Yeah it's cool." Jess nodded.

"Wow, you actually like a place." Lane teased.

"Yeah ok!" Jess rolled his eyes.

"Rory, what do you think?" Lane asked.

"It reminds me of the Crap Shack." Rory smiled softly.

Lane looked around. "I guess it is a bit like it."

"I remember when my mom and I first moved in. I was so in awe with the place. There was so much space. Well, I thought there was. I was only 9 at the time." She said. "But it was so cool because we finally had a house." She smiled softly.

Lane smiled. "That's nice. I know Lorelai worked hard to get your house."

"Yeah she did. She saved up so much. So many days she went without food just so she could get enough for the deposit." Rory admitted.

"That's...wow..." Jess said, not having known that.

"I mean, that is until we met Luke. He caught on pretty quickly what was happening when mom started saying everyday that she'd already eaten at the inn but then she'd stare at my food all evening. He made sure there were leftovers that were going to waste every evening. He made sure she ate one good meal a day." She smiled softly.

"Your uncle seems like a pretty cool guy." Tristan told Jess.

Jess smiled slightly. "Yeah...it took me a while to realise it but yeah, he is." He said.

"So what are we saying? Are we going to go for it?" Lane asked.

Rory smiled. "Well I like it."

"Me too." Tristan smiled.

"Me too." Jess said.

"So what do we think then?" Kirk said coming inside.

"We're going to take it!" Rory grinned.

"Great! I'll get the paperwork written up for you." Kirk smiled.

* * *

"Wow, so you're actually doing it then?" Lorelai said as she sat at a table in the diner with Rory.

"What do you mean?" Rory said.

"Buying a place. You're officially going to have your own house, that's big." She said.

"I had my own place in New York." Rory pointed out.

"I know but...this is different. It feels like this place might be a lot more...permanent. I mean I know you're going to go to Yale again but you're always going to come back to this house." Lorelai said.

"I guess so." She said.

Lorelai smiled. "My baby's all grown up."

"Mom..." Rory rolled her eyes.

"I know, I know, you grew up a while ago." Lorelai said. "I just...I never thought you and Jess would be roomies."

"Mom, you know..."

"I know. I know that you and Jess have moved on from everything. I do know that. I think it's nice you two are close again, especially since you're family now." She smiled.

"Really?" Rory asked.

"Hey kid, Jess saved my life. I know I forgave Jess a while ago and that we're good now. But...I owe him my life now. Jess is a good guy, a decent guy. I know that now." She smiled softly.

Rory smiled. "Only took you about 10 years." She teased.

Lorelai laughed. "Well...I guess you were right all along. You always tried to tell me he had good in him."

"It's crazy really. I never thought Jess and I would be this close again, let alone deciding to live together but...it's nice. We were good friends first and it's nice that we can be that again. Plus Lane and I always dreamt about what it would be like to live together." Rory smiled.

"Ah yes, in that infamous cheese house." Lorelai grinned.

Rory laughed. "Yeah."

"And Tristan?" She asked.

"What about Tristan?"

"Well...you're moving in together so it must be going well, right?" She asked.

"Mom..."

"I'm not prying. I'm just...interested." Lorelai said.

Rory smiled slightly. "It's good. I...I think it could be really good."

"I'm glad you're happy. You deserve to be." She smiled.

"You don't mind me moving out, do you? I know you've only just come back from hospital and I know it might seem like I'm just abandoning you but I'm not, I swear..." She said quickly.

"Hey, I would never think that." Lorelai assured her.

"I just...I think this could be really cool for me." Rory admitted.

"I know." She assured her. "You should do this. It will be nice for you to live with people your own age instead at home with your mom." Lorelai smiled.

"Mom, you know I love living with you." She said softly.

"I know. And the feeling's mutual. But it's time..." Lorelai smiled softly. "You've been living your own life for a long time now. It's time you have your own place here."

"Thanks mom." Rory smiled softly.

"Burger for you and a salad for you." Luke said handing Rory the burger and Lorelai the salad. "So how did house hunting go?" He asked.

"Good! We found a place." Rory grinned.

"Yeah? That's great!" Luke smiled.

"But we also found out Jess is literally your clone." Rory grinned. "Turns out he was moaning about places that we saw like you did when you and Jess were apartment hunting when he lived here."

Luke smirked slightly. "I taught him everything I know."

"This house, it reminds me of the Crap Shack." Rory smiled.

"Yeah?" Lorelai smiled.

"It got me reminiscing actually." Rory smiled softly. She glanced at Luke. "It reminded me how lucky mom and I are to have you." She said.

"I'm lucky to have you all, not the other way round." Luke said modestly, ducking his head slightly.

"Nope, you're just going to have to admit that we're as lucky as you. I know what you did all those years ago, when we were still living in the potting shed. I know you didn't have leftovers to waste every night, you were making sure mom ate." Rory said softly.

"What? How did you...?"

"Told you she was a smart kid. I couldn't get much past her at that age." Lorelai smiled softly at her husband. "I mean, it took me a while to realise it but Rory knew straight away."

"We're lucky to have you. Just take it." Rory teased.

Luke smiled slightly. "Well...you're welcome. I'll..uh..just get back to..." He said gesturing to the kitchen before walking off.

"He never can take a compliment." Rory smirked.

"That's why we love him." Lorelai smiled. She glanced at her daughter. "You know, I love the fact that you love him as much as I do."

"Luke's been more of a dad to me than dad has..." Rory said quietly. "Luke's been there when I've needed him."

"You know your dad..."

"Don't try to make excuses for him." Rory sighed. "You know, I rang him to tell him what happened to you. Well, I left him a message because he didn't answer. It was while I was at hospital and we still weren't sure what the outcome would be. You'd think he'd at least ring me back to make sure I was ok. But...nothing. I could have lost you and dad couldn't care less about how I was feeling."

"Rory..." She said softly.

"I'm over it now." Rory said. "I've got you. And Luke. And our family. That's all I need. And now I've got three new housemates as well."

Lorelai smiled and held up her glass. "To a new chapter."

"A new chapter." She smiled, clinking the glass. "So...you're really serious about this new diet then?" She said gesturing to the salad.

"I have to take it serious. I don't want a repeat of what happened." Lorelai sighed, playing a bit with her salad.

Rory sighed and saw the expression on her mom's face. "Here." She said cutting a quarter of her burger and putting it on her mom's plate.

"Rory, I can't..."

"A quarter of a burger isn't going to hurt you." Rory said. "And give me some of your salad."

"What?" She said surprised.

"It's always been us against the world. So...you want to do this, then we're in this together." She said taking some of her mom's salad.

Lorelai smiled softly. "Thanks sweets."

"I'm just glad you're ok." Rory smiled.

"And I will be." Lorelai assured her daughter. "I promise."

"Good." She said softly.

* * *

Rory, Jess, Lane and Tristan were hanging out at the park with Josh later that afternoon. Josh was playing with his football while the others were sat on a bench watching.

"I can't believe we're actually doing it. We're all going to live together." Lane said.

"I know, it's exciting." Rory said.

"So we were thinking, me and Tristan can have the bedrooms downstairs and you and Lane can be upstairs." Jess said.

"Why?" Lane asked.

"Are you two trying to be the protective boyfriends?" Rory teased. "They think the second floor will be safer." She told Lane.

"Aw you two are big softys really, aren't you?" Lane played along.

"Yeah alright! We just thought we should offer." Jess said gruffly.

"You can sleep downstairs if you like." Tristan chuckled slightly.

Rory glanced at Lane. "I don't mind either way to be honest." She said.

"Me neither." Lane shrugged. "We just like teasing you." She grinned.

"Great." Jess said sarcastically.

"We love you really." Rory grinned. "And yes, we'll take the upstairs bedrooms then."

"Can you come play with me?" Josh asked Jess and Tristan.

"I'm offended you didn't ask me! Your own sister!" Rory said in mock astonishment.

"You suck at soccer." Josh said.

"Oooh burn!" Lane laughed.

"Well, he's right. I do suck." Rory smirked as she watched Jess get up with Tristan and go and play with Josh. She smiled as she watched them. "They're so good with him." She said.

Lane smiled. "Yeah they are." She said. "We picked some good ones there, didn't we?" She said softly, glancing at Rory.

Rory smiled. "Yeah we did." She said softly. She smiled at her best friend. "I can't believe we're actually doing it. I mean, we're not having a cheese house but we're going to live together."

Lane laughed. "This is better than a cheese house."

She laughed. "True!"

Lane smiled. "I can't wait." She told her best friend. "This is going to be so cool. Who would have thought we would be living together with our boyfriends?"

Rory smiled and glanced over at Jess and Tristan who were messing around with Josh. "Yeah it really will be." She said. She grinned at Lane. "We're going to have so much fun!"

"Definitely!" Lane grinned back. "To our future."

"To our future." Rory grinned.

 **So I hope you liked it! Please keep the reviews coming as I love reading what you all think! :) Thank you again so much for all your support. It really does mean so much to me. :)**


	25. Chapter 24

**Thank you for your continued support! Here's the next chapter. :)**

Chapter 24

Rory walked past Gypsy's and saw Tristan with his top off working under a car. She smiled slightly and stopped to watch him for a moment. Tristan noticed her after a minute and smirked. "Enjoying the show?" He said.

"Maybe." She smirked.

"Don't you have work to get to?" Tristan chuckled.

"I'm on my way now." Rory said. "Just thought I'd stop by."

"And admire the view huh?" He teased.

"Possibly." Rory grinned. "Sorry, Gypsy!"

Gypsy smirked. "Noone can blame you." She said.

Tristan got up and gave Rory a kiss. "When do you finish today?" He asked.

"5." She said. "You?"

"6. Meet you back home?" He asked. "Whoa, that's still weird to say." He chuckled. The four of them had moved into their new place at the beginning of the week.

"I know right? I still need to remind myself not to head back to the Crap Shack!" Rory laughed. "So meet you at home? I think Jess is cooking tonight."

"Sounds good." Tristan nodded. "One more kiss?"

"Wouldn't say no." She grinned, leaning in to kiss him. "See you later."

"Bye." He smirked, watching her go.

* * *

"We should make a rota about who cooks dinner." Lane said as she and Jess worked together behind the counter at Luke's.

"Are you saying you don't like my food?" Jess raised his eyebrows.

"No! I'm just saying everyone should pull their weight. It shouldn't just be..." Lane stopped when she saw Jess smirking. "You're baiting me." She said.

"Perhaps." He said.

"Nice."

"You always make it too easy." Jess smirked.

"Anyway, I was thinking it could be cool to have a rota. We could take it in turns." Lane said.

"Yeah could work." Jess nodded. "Although Rory doesn't cook." He smirked.

"Hey, she's much better now than you think! She used to cook loads with Logan." She pointed out.

"Ah yes, the blonde dick from Yale. I remember him well." Jess said dryly.

"Jess!" Lane said but smiled slightly. "What I'm saying is that she might actually surprise you."

"Ok." He smirked.

"How come you never offered to cook for me when you used to live here?" Luke said walking past them.

"Because I was a moody, sulky teenager who just wanted to go out and annoy Taylor." Jess smirked.

"And drive me crazy." Luke said.

"That too." Jess nodded.

"Sure." Luke said smirking slightly. "How's the house going?" He asked them.

"Really good!" Lane nodded, smiling. "It's so cool all being together."

"Good. You know..uh..if you guys ever need any help with anything...or if you need money..." Luke said.

"We're good." Jess said. He glanced at his uncle. "But thanks."

Luke nodded. "You know where I am if you do."

"Thanks Luke." Lane smiled.

"Daddy!" A voice said.

Luke's face lit up as he saw Josh come running into the diner. "Hey!" He smiled at his son. He then smiled at his wife who had followed Josh in. "Hey." He said softly.

"Hey back." Lorelai smiled. "This one got hungry so I thought we'd come by for some food."

"Can I have a burger?" Josh asked.

"Of course." Luke smiled. He glanced at Lorelai and saw her expression change slightly. He knew how much Lorelai was trying to stick to her healthy diet and he knew it was partly for his benefit. She'd really kept to it as well. "Burger for you as well?" He asked.

Lorelai looked surprised. "What?"

"You've been good all week. You deserve a treat." Luke smiled. He saw her hesitant expression. "One burger won't hurt you." He assured her.

"Wow, who would have thought we'd see Luke trying to persuade you to eat a burger?" Jess smirked. "I'd take it if I were you."

Lorelai smiled slightly. She glanced at Luke. "You sure?"

"I'll do it now." Luke smiled.

"Thanks." She smiled softly.

* * *

Rory walked through the front door of their new house and heard sounds coming from the kitchen. She walked through to the kitchen and found Jess there, already cooking. "Hey!" She smiled.

"Oh hey!" Jess said. "Finished work?" He asked.

"Yeah. I didn't expect anyone to be here." She said.

"Lane offered to close with Luke today so I could come back and get on with dinner." Jess said.

"Ah ok." She smiled. "So what are you making?" She asked.

"Lasagne." He said.

"My favourite!" Rory grinned. "Aw, Jess, how did you know?"

"Well, you're always the golden girl with Luke. I forget how many times we had lasagne when you came to visit." Jess smirked.

"Well, what can I say? Luke loves me." She joked. "So how come you're doing it tonight?"

"It's been a tough couple of weeks for you with...well...what happened with your mom. Thought I'd treat you." He said. "Plus Lane loves my lasagne."

"Ah there it is. The real motivation. You want to get some action tonight." Rory teased.

"I resent that. Can't I just do something nice for a change?" Jess said.

Rory smirked. "Nope."

Jess smiled slightly. "Yeah, well, don't pretend you don't want the same with Tristan." He said.

"Ok, maybe we need to stop sharing things with each other." Rory laughed. "This is getting weird...Subject change?"

"Please." Jess smirked.

"Do you want some help?" She offered.

Jess glanced at her. "Really?"

"Don't look so surprised!" Rory said. "I may actually surprise you. I can cook, you know."

"Yeah, I know. Apparently you use to cook with that blonde dick from Yale." He said.

"What, who told you that?"

"Lane."

"Oh." Rory said. "Well, yeah, I used to cook a bit. So, want some help?"

"Sure." Jess nodded. "If you don't mind?"

"Not at all." She said.

"Can you do the garlic bread?" He said.

"Sure!" She smiled. "Oooh can I put more garlic on it? Ooh and some cheese? Cheesy garlic bread is the best!" She grinned.

"I'm regretting this already." Jess shook his head.

"You love me really." Rory grinned.

* * *

"This is great." Tristan said as the four of them tucked into the dinner that evening.

"Thanks." Jess said.

"Yeah but how's the garlic bread? Good huh?" Rory grinned.

"The best garlic bread I've ever had." Tristan smirked.

"Why thank you!" She grinned.

"It really is good. The garlic bread might even have outdone your lasagne." Lane teased Jess.

Jess rolled his eyes. "Is it too late to pull out of this house contract now?" He said.

"You love us really." Lane grinned.

"Hmm...I'm starting to doubt that..." Jess said but smirked slightly.

"Well I think the lasagne's great, mate." Tristan said.

"Thank you." Jess said.

"Suck up." Rory sniggered.

"Will you take that back if I tell you how much I love the garlic bread again?" He smirked.

"Maybe." She grinned.

"Well...I loved it." He grinned.

"Alright, you're not a suck up anymore." She joked.

"Ok, I'll wash up. You cooked so it's only fair." Tristan said getting up.

"I'll help." Rory said. "You two go hang out."

"You sure? I don't mind helping." Lane offered.

"Nah it's ok. So hang out with your guy." Rory smiled. "Oh and Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"The lasagne was delicious." She smiled.

Jess smiled. "Thanks." He said.

Rory smiled as she watched them leave the kitchen. She glanced over at Tristan as he started washing up the dishes in the sink. She went over to him. "You wash, I dry?" She said.

"Sure." He smiled handing her one of the dishes. He glanced at her as she started drying it and then putting it away. "So you two love giving Jess a hard time, don't you?" He smirked slightly.

"Nah, it's all in good jest. We just love teasing him." Rory said. "Jess knows that."

"You really are close to him, aren't you?" Tristan said, glancing at him.

"I've known Jess a long time." Rory said glancing at him. "Are you jealous?"

"No! No, not at all. I know what happened between you and Jess is ancient history. I just..." Tristan said before sighing. "Ok, maybe I was a little jealous..." He admitted.

Rory smiled softly and leaned in to kiss him. "Tristan, Lane and I just love teasing Jess. We do it all the time. Jess is pretty much a cousin to me. It's nice that we're close again. But Jess and I, that's all it is. He's with Lane and I'm really happy for them."

Tristan sighed. "I knew I was being stupid..."

"No...I think it's sweet. And I'm sorry...if you felt left out." She said. "I can tease you as well if you want?" She grinned.

"It's fine." He said.

"You sure? I'd be happy to." She smirked.

Tristan chuckled. "I love you." He said without thinking.

"What?" Rory said.

Tristan froze. "I..uh..I meant...I..uh..I love that you're with me...that you...chose to be with me." He said quickly.

Rory finished drying the last of the dishes before facing him. "Tristan..." She said softly.

"Yeah?" He said nervously.

"I...I've said I love you to a few guys in my life and I always thought I meant it. And then...stuff happens and...well, I'm on my own again." Rory said. She sighed. "Tristan, I am loving being with you. I'm really enjoying us right now and all of this." She said gesturing round the house. "I just...I want to be sure this time...before I say those words. Is...is that ok?" She asked.

Tristan smiled softly and leaned in to kiss her. "That's more than ok." He said.

Rory smiled. "Hey, why don't we take this to my room? Or your room?" She said softly.

"You sure?" He asked surprised.

Rory smiled at him. ""Let's have some us time. Alone." She said softly, holding out her hand.

"Now that I won't say no to." Tristan smiled. "Lead the way." He said.

 **So I hope you liked it! :) Please keep the reviews coming! I really do love reading what you all think and your support really does mean so much to me so thank you! :)**


	26. Chapter 25

**Thank you for all your support so far! :) Here's the next chapter!**

Chapter 25

"Tonight was nice. It's felt like ages since we did something like that." Lorelai smiled at Luke as he drove her back towards Stars Hollow.

"Yeah it was nice to have some time, just the two of us." Luke smiled softly.

"Yeah it was. Things have been a bit...well, mad, lately." Lorelai said.

"You could say that again. Think I've aged 10 years in the last few weeks." He chuckled. "I even found a grey hair."

"Aw poor you." Lorelai laughed.

Luke chuckled. "I'm just glad I still get to spend these evenings with you." He smiled softly.

Lorelai smiled. "Me too." She said softly. "I love you, Luke."

"I love you too." Luke smiled at her. "Now let's go pick up Josh from Babette's."

"Sounds good." She smiled softly. She glanced back at the road and suddenly her smile vanished. Two cars suddenly crashed into each other at the crossroads infront of them. "LUKE, WATCH OUT!" She screamed.

Luke glanced back at the road and his eyes widened. He tried to swerve but it was too late and they became part of the pile up.

* * *

Tristan glanced across at Jess who was driving them back to Stars Hollow. "Thanks for the invite tonight. It was cool." He said.

"No problem." Jess said. "Thought it was about time we spent some time together without the girls."

Tristan nodded. "Plus they would never want to go see horror movies." He smirked.

Jess chuckled. "No way. They would have run out two minutes in."

Tristan chuckled. "That's true." He said. He glanced at Jess. "But seriously, though, I appreciated the invite. You could have gone alone."

Jess shrugged. "It's alright." He said glancing at him. "It was cool."

Tristan smiled. "Yeah it was." He said. He looked over at Jess. "You know, I've been battling with my jealousy over you." He admitted.

"What? Why?" Jess said surprised.

"Because of how close you and Rory are." He sighed. "It's stupid, I know. And Rory told me that as well last night. Just...seeing you two during that dinner last night, you were just so...easy with each other. Anyone could see the closeness."

Jess glanced at him. "Rory's family..." He said.

"I know." He said quickly. "I trust you. I trust both of you. I just...I guess it's been a bit of a weird situation for me."

"I can get that." He nodded.

"But tonight has been cool. I enjoy living with you guys and I hope you and I...well, I hope you and I can be good friends." Tristan said before cringing. "Sorry, that sounds so cringey." He said.

Jess smirked slightly. "It's cool. And I get why you'd feel like you do. But I can assure you, I don't want to get between you and Rory. I...I love Lane." He admitted.

Tristan glanced at him. "You told her that yet?" He asked.

"Last night." He nodded. "After you and Rory retired to her room...me and Lane, well, we kind of retired to mine." He admitted.

"Oh yeah?" Tristan said.

"Yeah." He said ducking his head slightly. "Things may have happened..."

"You mean, you slept together." Tristan said.

Jess blushed slightly. "It was our first time." He admitted.

"Seriously?" Tristan said surprised.

"Why so surprised?"

"I don't know, I just...Rory said you've been going out for nearly a year now. I kind of assumed..." He said.

"We wanted to take it slow. It took us a while to tell Rory about us. Well, I think we procrastinated quite a bit with that. But, anyway, we didn't want to do anything before she knew. And then...well, we wanted to make sure we were serious before we took...that step, you know?" He admitted. "It's not something you can really come back from if things go wrong, you know?"

"Yeah." Tristan nodded. "So...you realised it was serious?"

"We talked quite a lot. And...I told her I loved her. And...well, for some reason, she feels the same. And then...well, you know..." Jess said ducking his head.

"That's cool. I'm happy for you both, man." Tristan smiled.

"Thanks." He said gruffly. He glanced over at him. "So...you and Rory? You seemed to disappear to her room pretty quickly..."

It was Tristan's turn to blush. "Yeah...we watched a film on her laptop..." He said.

"Yeah? That all you do?" Jess smirked slightly.

Tristan glanced at him. "You really want to hear the details?"

"So long as it doesn't end with you hurting her, then I'm good." Jess joked.

"Well...we watched the film and then we sort of just hung out for a bit. You know, we talked a bit as well. And well...one thing led to another..." He admitted.

"Guess we both got lucky then..." Jess commented.

"I'm just happy Rory's given me a chance. I don't want to mess it up this time." Tristan said.

"I'm sure you won't." He said.

Tristan glanced at him. "Thanks for tonight. I...needed this." He said.

"No problem." Jess said. He glanced over at Tristan. "It's good to be this happy, huh?"

Tristan smiled. "Yeah. It's a good feeling." He said, glancing back at the road and suddenly his smile vanished. He saw a pile up infront of him at the crossroads. "JESS, WATCH OUT!" He shouted.

Jess looked back at the road and his eyes widened. He tried to swerve but he was too late and he crashed into the vehicles already involved in the pile up.

* * *

"So it's been a while since we've had a girl's night out." Lane said as she smiled at Rory who was driving them back to Stars Hollow.

"Yeah, it has. But I'm so happy we finally got to hang out together, just the two of us. We need to do it more often. We need to make sure we make time to do it." Rory smiled.

"Definitely!" Lane nodded. "I still can't believe we're finally living together."

"I know, it's so cool!" Rory grinned.

"And with two guys as well. Who would have thought huh?" She laughed.

"I know. It still feels a bit surreal." She nodded. She glanced at her best friend. "So things seem to be going well with you and Jess..." She said.

Lane blushed slightly. "You could say that..." She said.

Rory glanced at her and then smirked. "Oh my god, something happened last night, didn't it?"

"Rory..." Lane laughed.

"Oh come on! You've had a smile on your face all day!" Rory grinned. "Spill!"

Lane ducked her head slightly. "Well, after dinner, Jess and I...well, we...uh...we went to his room and we...uh...well, we may have taken the next step." She admitted.

"Oh my god! I knew it!" Rory exclaimed.

"I was so nervous." She admitted.

"Why?" She said confused.

"Well...it was our first time." Lane said.

"What?" Rory said surprised. "Seriously?"

"Yeah.." Lane said.

"How come? You've been going out for over a year already though..."

"I know but well, we didn't want to do anything when you didn't know about...us. It felt wrong." Lane said. "And then after you found out, we...well, we wanted to make sure we were serious about us before we did anything. This isn't just some guy. It's Jess and I wanted to be sure. He wanted the same as well."

"That's sweet." Rory smiled.

"We talked last night and...he told me he loved me." Lane admitted.

"Aw Lane.." She said softly.

"I know and I...I told him I felt the same. It was so special, Ror. I'm sorry, is it weird talking about this with you?" She said.

"Not at all." Rory assured her. "I'm really happy you're happy. You deserve it. You both do."

"I am." Lane smiled softly. "I...I really think he might be the one." She admitted.

"It's a nice feeling, isn't it?" Rory smiled softly.

"Yeah, it really is." She nodded. "I thought I loved Zach and I think I did but with Jess, it's just different. He gets me and I get him and it's just...different."

"I get it." She said. "It's the same with Tristan." She admitted.

"Yeah?" She said glancing at her.

"Yeah." Rory admitted, ducking her head slightly. "I know I fought against me and him for quite a while. I've told so many people I loved them and then it all went wrong. I just...didn't want to be wrong this time."

"I get that." Lane said softly.

"But I couldn't stop thinking about Tristan even when I tried so hard to. He's changed a lot since Chilton but then there's still some of the old Tristan there as well, you know? I just...I think I'm really falling for him." She admitted.

"Ror, that's so cool." Lane smiled. "I'm happy for you."

"Thanks." She smiled softly. "So...you ready to get back to our guys?" She grinned.

"Absolutely!" Lane grinned, glancing back at the road ahead of them and suddenly her grin vanished. She saw a car crash into a pile up ahead of them at the crossroads. "RORY, WATCH OUT!" She screamed.

Rory glanced back at the road and her eyes widened. She tried to swerve but she was too late and she crashed into the vehicles in the pile up.

* * *

 _The previous evening, Lane and Jess had retired to Jess' room. "Tonight's been fun." She smiled._

 _"Yeah, I just love you and Rory ganging up on me." Jess said dryly._

 _"Aw, you know we're only teasing." Lane grinned._

 _"Yeah, I know." He smirked. "And you should thank me."_

 _"For what?"_

 _"Well, Tristan and Rory went up to her room. I'll give you three guesses to what they're doing." He smirked._

 _"Jess!" Lane exclaimed._

 _"What?" He chuckled. "They've been going out a while now."_

 _"Yeah but we've been going out longer and we haven't...you know...yet." Lane said._

 _Jess glanced at her. "I guess so." He said, sitting on his bed, his back resting against the headboard. "Come join me." He said._

 _Lane smiled and went and sat next to him. "Dinner really was delicious tonight by the way." She said._

 _"Thanks." He smiled. He glanced at her. "So..uh..I need to tell you something.." He said nervously._

 _"Shoot." Lane smiled._

 _"Well..uh..as you said, we've been dating a while now. I know it's been a bit weird seeing as it's...well...us." He said._

 _"You could say that again." She laughed._

 _Jess smirked slightly. "But I also feel like it's been going well. Especially lately." He said._

 _Lane smiled softly. "Well I feel the same." She said._

 _"Yeah?"_

 _"Yeah." She nodded. She glanced at him and saw the nervousness on his face. "Ok what's going on? Why have you gone all twitchy and nervous?"_

 _"I'm not!" He said._

 _"Yeah, you are." She laughed. "What's up?"_

 _"I love you." He blurted out._

 _"What?" Lane said surprised._

 _Jess sighed. "And there I go, screwing things up again. I can never talk like a normal person. I just have to spring things on people." He said. "I'm sorry. I...I had a whole speech planned and I've just ruined it."_

 _"Jess..." Lane said softly._

 _"No, forget it. It's fine." He said._

 _"Jess..."_

 _"I know I've ruined it." He said._

 _"Jess!" She exclaimed._

 _"What?" Jess said glancing at her._

 _Lane smiled and leant in to kiss him. "I love you too." She said._

 _"You...do?" He said letting out a breath._

 _"Yeah. I do." She said softly. "Jess, I know us getting together was complicated to begin with. It always was going to be. But...we got through all that and if that doesn't show we're serious about this, I don't know what will. I love you, Jess, and I really hope this could become something special. Because I know I want it to."_

 _Jess smiled. "Me too." He said softly._

 _"Why don't we make it more official?" Lane suggested._

 _"You mean...?" Jess said, looking down at the bed._

 _"If you want to..." Lane smiled, biting her lip slightly._

 _"I know I want to. But are you sure? I don't want you to feel pushed..." He said hesitantly._

 _"It was my suggestion, wasn't it?" She said._

 _"I know but..."_

 _"I want this." Lane said softly. She leant in and kissed him. "I love you."_

 _"I love you too." Jess said before gently pulling her down onto the bed and kissing her._

* * *

 _Meanwhile, up in Rory's room, Rory and Tristan were sat on her bed finishing a movie on Rory's laptop._

 _"I still can't believe you made me watch this movie." Tristan said as it finished._

 _"It's a classic!" Rory grinned._

 _"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? Really?" He raised his eyebrows. "This was payback wasn't it? For me getting jealous of Jess..."_

 _Rory smirked. "Maybe. But this movie is still a classic."_

 _Tristan smirked. "I guess it wasn't too bad."_

 _Rory grinned. "Anyway, I think it was sweet you got jealous. It shows...well, it shows I mean something to you." She said._

 _"You mean a lot more than something to me." Tristan said._

 _She smiled softly. "Well...the feeling's mutual." She said._

 _"Yeah?" He said._

 _"Yeah." Rory smiled, leaning in to kiss him. "You know...I heard Lane and Jess go into Jess' room downstairs..." She said._

 _"Oh yeah?" Tristan said smirking slightly._

 _"Yeah." She smirked. "Why don't we make the most of Lane not being next door in her room?"_

 _"Really? You're sure?" He asked surprised._

 _"Yeah. I really am." Rory nodded, realising she was being totally honest. "I know I really fought against us for quite a while at the beginning but that's just because...well, stuff have gone wrong in the past. I don't want to repeat my mistakes." She admitted. "But with you...being with you...it feels different."_

 _"Good different?" Tristan said._

 _"Great different." She smiled softly. "So...what do you say?" She asked._

 _"I say you don't have to ask me twice." Tristan smiled pulling her down onto the bed and kissing her._

* * *

Sirens were heard all around as five vehicles were involved in a huge crash at a crossroads just outside of Stars Hollow. Police and ambulances arrived on the scene.

"Ok, we need to close these roads. This doesn't look good at all..." One of the policemen said as the policemen and paramedics rushed towards the scene infront of them.

 **Hope you liked it! :) Sorry about the cliffhanger! ;) Please keep the reviews coming as I love reading what you think. Your support really does mean so much to me so thank you again! :)**


	27. Chapter 26

**Sorry for the slight delay! My Grandma isn't very well at the moment so my head's been all over the place. I may not be able to update until next week after this as am going to see her on Friday for the weekend. Thank you for your continued support. Here's the next chapter. :)**

Chapter 26

Lorelai squinted her eyes open and glanced next to her. "Luke?" She said shakily. She started to panic when she saw his eyes were closed and he wasn't responding. "Luke?" She exclaimed.

* * *

Tristan squinted his eyes open and glanced next to him. "Jess?" He said shakily. He started to panic when she saw his eyes were closed and he wasn't responding. "Don't do this to me, man! Jess?" He exclaimed.

* * *

Rory squinted her eyes open and glanced next to her. "Lane?" She said shakily. She started to panic when she saw her eyes were closed and she wasn't responding. "Oh my god! Lane?" She exclaimed.

* * *

Tristan slowly took his safety belt off, wincing as he did, before opening the door of the car and carefully getting out. His eyes widened as he saw the extent of his crash.

"Wait there!" A paramedic said rushing over. "You shouldn't have moved until we checked you over." She said.

"I'm fine." Tristan said ignoring the pain in his shoulder and his throbbing head. "My..uh..my friend isn't waking up. He's not moving." He said worried.

"Ok, try not to panic." She said. "Is this the car?" She asked gesturing to Jess' car.

"Uh yeah." Tristan nodded dazed still trying to take in what had just happened. Something then caught his eye. Or more like someone did. "RORY!" He exclaimed, ignoring the paramedic's advice and rushing towards his girlfriend.

"Tristan?" Rory said shakily. "Oh my god...you were in the crash too?"

"Looks like it..."

"Where's Jess?" She asked.

"Uh...the paramedics are with him..." Tristan said quietly. "How about Lane?" He asked.

"I can't wake her up." Rory blinked back tears.

"Ok, try not to worry. Are you ok? Are you hurt?" He asked concerned.

"I...I don't think so." She said tremulously.

"Come on, let's go see Lane." Tristan said softly leading her to her car. "You need to sit down as well." He said guiding her into her seat, wincing in agony as a shot of pain shot right through his arm and shoulder but he ignored it.

They were relieved to see Lane slowly opening her eyes and glancing round. "Rory?" She said.

"Lane! Thank god! Are you ok?" Rory asked.

"I...I think so. What happened?" She said shakily.

"We were in a car crash." Tristan said.

"Tristan?" She said confused.

"Tristan and Jess were in the crash too." Rory explained.

"Jess? Where is he? Is he ok?" Lane exclaimed.

"The paramedics are with him." Tristan said not wanting to worry Lane just yet.

"Oh." She said. "So...we crashed into you?" She asked.

"No, I..uh..I think there are quite a few involved." Rory said shakily. Her eyes then widened as she looked out of the window. "Oh my god!" She suddenly said.

"What?" Tristan said.

"That's Luke's truck!" She exclaimed, getting out of the car. "MOM!" She shouted.

* * *

Rory was stood later that day, looking through a window into Jess' hospital room where he was lying in a bed, still unconscious. The paramedics had rushed him to hospital and taken him straight into surgery to try and stop a bleed in his brain. They had managed to successfully stop it but Jess hadn't woken up yet. She knew it was a waiting game now but she couldn't stop the pit of dread in her stomach as she watched him lie there not moving. She glanced at Lane who was sat next to him in the room, holding his hand. Luckily Lane had got checked over and she only had some cuts and bruises and some mild whiplash. She blinked back tears as she heard footsteps come from behind her.

* * *

Lorelai was sat later that, sitting next to Luke's bed holding her husband's hand as he was lying in a bed, still unconscious. The paramedics had rushed him to hospital and taken him straight into surgery to try and reduce the swelling in his brain. They had managed to do so but Luke had still not woken up so Lorelai was sat sat next to him hoping that at any minute, her husband would open his eyes. She blinked back tears as she squeezed his hand but got no response.

* * *

"Rory?" A voice said softly.

Rory turned to see Tristan appear next to her. "What did the doctor say?" She asked.

"I dislocated my shoulder." He said. "But it's fine. They put it back in place and I only have to wear this for a few days." He said gesturing to his sling. "I'm fine." He said.

"Are you sure? You got properly checked over?" Rory checked worriedly.

"I'm fine." Tristan assured her. "Honestly. The doctor gave me some pain killers and some medication for my headache but he said I would be fine."

"Ok." She said letting out a big breath. "Good."

Tristan watched as Rory looked back through the window at Jess and wiped away some tears. "Hey..." He said softly, putting his good arm round her shoulders. "He's going to wake up." He said.

"What if he doesn't?" She sniffed.

"He will." He said. He glanced at Rory. "Why don't you go in?" He asked.

"I don't want to interrupt." She said quietly glancing at her best friend sat next to him.

"Oh." Tristan said.

"I...I think I'm going to go sit with mom for a bit with Luke." She said quietly. She glanced at him. "You can go home if you want..."

"You want me to go?" Tristan said surprised and a bit hurt.

"No. I just...I'm going to be here a while. There's no point really you being here." Rory said.

"Apart from the fact that my friend's lying in that room and my girlfriend is clearly in shock from everything that has happened." Tristan said. "I can't believe you'd want me to leave!"

"I don't want you to! I just...urghhh, why are we even arguing about this?" She exclaimed.

Tristan sighed. "I don't know." He said.

Rory sighed. She took one last look at Jess before turning away. "I'm going to go find mom..."

"Ok." He said quietly.

Rory glanced at him. "What are you going to do?" She asked.

Tristan shrugged. "Don't know." He said.

"Ok." She said quietly before slowly walking away.

Tristan sighed as he watched her go. He saw the look of devastation on her face when they found out that Jess' injuries were more serious than theirs. He knew this was affecting her more than she was letting on. He also knew that Luke meant a lot to her and from what he'd heard, he still hadn't woken up either so he knew she was going to need all the support she could get. He glanced through the window at Jess before going to find a seat to sit on to wait for Rory. There was no way he was just going to go home.

* * *

"Mom?" A small voice said.

Lorelai turned to see Rory peek inside the room. "Hey sweets..." She said softly.

Rory rushed in and launched herself at her mom, hugging her tightly.

"Hey, it's ok." She said softly, holding her daughter close.

"This day really sucks." Rory blinked back tears.

"Yeah. It really does." Lorelai said quietly. "How's Jess doing?" She asked.

"He...He's still in a coma. They don't know when he's going to wake up. Or when..." Rory sniffed.

"Hey, don't think like that. He will wake up ok? And he's going to be fine." She assured her daughter. "What about Tristan and Lane?"

"Lane's ok. Few cuts and bruises and mild whiplash. Tristan dislocated his shoulder but they managed to put it back in place so it should heal fine." She said.

"Good." Lorelai said relieved. "And you?"

"I'm fine." Rory said quietly.

"Rory..." Lorelai said softly.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that question?" Rory sniffed glancing at Luke lying in the bed next to them.

Lorelai sighed. "I'm...holding up." She admitted.

"Me too." She said quietly. "I think I'm just in shock still..." She admitted. "What...what did the doctors say about Luke?"

"Well...they managed to reduce the swelling in his brain which is good. But...we won't know exactly how he is until he wakes up..." Lorelai said.

"And...they don't know when that might be?" Rory said quietly.

"No."

"I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry about?" Lorelai said.

"I don't know." Rory sighed.

"Hey, come here." She said pulling her into a hug again. "Luke and Jess are going to be fine. Who else are we going to tease constantly huh?"

Rory smiled slightly. "I guess..."

"They'll be fine." Lorelai said softly. "Where's Tristan?"

"I..uh..I told him he should go home." Rory admitted now regretting her words to him.

"Oh." Lorelai said surprised. "And he went?"

"I don't know." She said honestly.

"Ok. Look, why don't you get us both some drinks? Is Lane with Jess?" She asked.

"Yeah." Rory said. "I didn't want to intrude."

"Ok. Well maybe see if she wants anything as well." Lorelai suggested. Rory just nodded. Lorelai could see the tears in her daughter's eyes. "They're going to be fine. Luke and Jess are tough. They'll get through this."

Rory nodded again, blinking back some tears. "I'll go get those drinks." She said tremulously.

Lorelai watched her daughter leave the room before letting her tears fall down her face. She looked back at Luke and squeezed his hand. "I need you, Luke. Please...Please just wake up. You're...you're my rock, my constant, my everything. Please...please just...be ok. And wake up." She broke down.

* * *

Rory walked back towards Jess' room to go and ask Lane if she wanted anything. On the way though, she spotted Tristan sat in a seat in one of the waiting rooms. She slowly walked over. "Hey.." She said quietly.

"Oh..hey.." Tristan said looking up. "How's Luke? And your mom?"

"Luke's still not awake but they managed to reduce the swelling on his brain. Mom...well, I think she was just trying to stay strong for me." Rory said. "This sucks! I feel useless! I want to do something to help but I can't! Luke and Jess...they didn't deserve this." She said tremulously.

"I know." Tristan said softly, getting up. "Come here." He said pulling her into a hug.

"I'm sorry I told you to go home. I...I'm glad you didn't." Rory cried, finding comfort in her boyfriend's embrace.

"It's ok. You're in shock. We all are." He said softly.

"I just want them to be ok." She sniffed. "They need to be ok."

"They will be." Tristan assured her. "They will be."

They stood there for several minutes, Rory finally letting her emotions out and seeking comfort in Tristan. Tristan just stood there not saying anything and just holding Rory tightly, letting her let it all out. It had been a long day and not one either of them would like to repeat.

 **Sorry it's a bit shorter but I wanted to get something up for you. I hope you liked it! :) I'm not a medical expert so please be kind! :P Thank you again for all of your support! I really do appreciate it. :)**


	28. Chapter 27

**Sorry there's been a little delay. I kind of got back into Oh Brother but I can assure you that I will be continuing with this. :)**

Chapter 27

"You see it too, don't you?"

Lane glanced up to see Tristan come and stand next to her by the window of Jess' room. "See what?" She said.

"Lane..." Tristan said.

"I can't believe you would even think that." Lane said as she glanced into Jess' room where Rory was sat next to him, holding his hand.

"Lane.."

"No!" Lane shook her head. "She wouldn't do that. Not to me. Not to us." She said firmly.

"Not intentionally, maybe." Tristan said. "But seeing someone you really care about in a condition like this makes a person reevaluate their feelings..."

"She cares about him because he's family." She said. "Of course she cares about him!"

Tristan sighed. "Look, I trust her. I do. But these sort of situations...they do change things. I saw her...I saw Rory when she saw Jess for the first time."

Lane just shook her head. "You're being delusional." She said stubbornly.

"Maybe I am. I hope I am. But you can't deny the fact that you see it too. And what with Luke being in here as well. I've heard he's been like a dad to her. It must be like a double whammy for her." Tristan said softly.

Lane glanced at him and then back in at Jess and Rory and sighed. "I guess..." She conceded. She glanced at him. "I still think you're wrong though..."

"I hope I am." He said honestly.

Lane glanced at him before opening the door to Jess' room and walking in. "Hey..." She said to Rory.

"Hey..." Rory said.

"No change?" Lane asked.

"No." She said quietly. "I can leave you alone for a bit if you want..." She said going to get up.

"No, it's fine. Stay." She said giving her a small smile.

Rory nodded and sat back down, looking back at Jess. "I just can't believe this has happened..." She said quietly.

Lane glanced at her. "Yeah..." She said. "It must be hitting you hard right?" She said cautiously.

"What?" Rory said confused.

"I mean, seeing Jess like this. It's killing me but...you and Jess have so much history. It must be...killing you too..." Lane said casually.

"Jess is family. Of course, it's killing me seeing him like this." She frowned.

"Right...family..." Lane said quietly.

Rory glanced at her and frowned. "What's that meant to mean?"

"Nothing. Forget it." She sighed.

"It's obviously not nothing." Rory said.

"It was stupid. Just forget it." Lane said.

"No, tell me." She said. "What did you mean?"

Lane sighed. "I know Jess is family. I know that. But...you weren't always just family."

"What are you saying?"

"Well...seeing someone you really care about in this condition, someone you once had strong feelings for...it must...well...it must make some feelings resurface a bit..." Lane said hesitantly.

"What?" Rory exclaimed, getting up. "Are you seriously implying I want to get into Jess' pants just because he could die?"

"Rory!" Lane exclaimed shocked.

"What?" She snapped. "I can't believe you would even think that. You think I would just swoop in and steal him from you?"

"No, I don't think..."

"Although that would be a bit rich from you seeing as you stole him from me in the first place!" Rory snapped angrily before storming out of the room.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Lane frowned following her out. "That's not fair!"

"Isn't it? Who was it who was sneaking around dating their best friend's ex for a whole year before she finally came clean?" Rory snapped.

"I apologised for that! You said you were fine with us!" Lane exclaimed.

"Yeah, well it hurt, Lane! Jess was my boyfriend. I loved him! And you stole him from me!"

"Rory, he hadn't been your boyfriend for years! You hadn't even spoken to him for ages!" Lane said.

"Yeah, well..." Rory said.

"Look, I'm sorry if I got the wrong end of the stick..." Lane said.

"You're sorry? Oh well, that makes everything better!" She scoffed. "I can't believe you would even think I would do that to you! I'm with Tristan for god's sake!"

"Yeah? And how's that going? Because all this came from him!" Lane snapped.

"What?" Rory said shocked.

"Hey, what's going on?" Lorelai exclaimed. "I can hear you all the way from Luke's room!"

"Nothing." Rory mumbled.

"Well whatever it is, sort it out because this isn't the time or the place. Look around you! You're in a hospital!" Lorelai said.

Both girls looked round and looked sheepish as they realised people were staring at them.

"Sorry mom..." Rory said quietly.

"Yeah, sorry Lorelai." Lane said quietly. "How...how's Luke doing?" She asked.

"No change yet." Lorelai sighed. "Now I'm going to head back to him. Am I ok to go or are you two going to end up killing each other?"

"I'm going to get some air anyway." Rory mumbled.

"I'm going back to sit with _my_ boyfriend." Lane said.

Lorelai headed back to Luke's room while Rory headed outside. Tristan walked hesitantly up to Lane. "What was all that about?"

"You just had to put that thought into my head, didn't you?" Lane snapped. "Now Rory hates me!"

"Lane..."

"Just go away, Tristan!" Lane snapped, wiping away some tears, before heading back to Jess' room leaving Tristan stood there stunned.

* * *

Rory sat outside the hospital on a bench, wiping away some tears. She heard some footsteps head towards her and sit down. She glanced up and saw Tristan there.

"Before you say anything, I know you probably hate me right now." Tristan said quickly. "Lane's so mad at me right now but I did manage to find out that she told you that this was basically all my fault..." He said. He glanced at her and continued when he saw Rory wasn't replying. "I'm sorry." He sighed. "I know that probably won't help anything here but I saw you, Ror. I saw you when you first saw Jess." He said quietly. "It...tore you apart."

Rory sniffed and wiped away some more tears. "Jess is family..." She sniffed.

"I know." He said.

"I'm allowed to care about him. It doesn't mean that suddenly my feelings have come back..." She said.

Tristan sighed. "Have I totally messed things up with us?" He asked.

Rory glanced at him and then sighed. "I don't know." She said honestly.

"I do trust you. I never didn't trust you. I just...I know from personal experience that some feelings don't just go away." He said softly.

"Jess is my family. I'm upset because I care about him. As family." She repeated.

"Ok." Tristan said. "I'm sorry."

Rory glanced at him and just nodded.

"I..uh..I'm going to go see your mom and tell her I'm heading home for a bit. I'd feel rude just leaving without telling her. But I think...maybe we need some space..." He said.

Rory looked at him and sighed but nodded. "Ok." She said quietly.

"Maybe I'll see you later?"

"Yeah. Maybe." Rory said.

Tristan nodded before getting up and heading back into the hospital. Rory watched him go before sighing. She slowly got up and headed back inside as well. She walked slowly towards Jess' room and watched for a moment as Lane sat next to him gripping his hand, crying next to him. She blinked back her own tears and raised her hand to knock on the door before thinking twice about it and lowering it. She glanced once more into the room, wiping away some more tears before slowly walking away, just as Tristan came rushing round the corner bumping into her. "Tristan?" She said surprised by his state.

"Rory, thank god! You need to come! It's Luke! He's woken up!" He exclaimed.

 **So I hope you liked it! Sorry it's a bit shorter than normal but I wanted to get something up for you. Please keep the reviews coming as I love reading them. :) Thanks for your continued support. It really does mean so much to me. :)**


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